[PAR] [TLE] Wally Schirra [SEP] Walter Marty "Wally" Schirra Jr. (March 12, 1923 – May 3, 2007), (CAPT, USN), was an American naval officer and aviator, aeronautical engineer, test pilot, and one of the original seven astronauts chosen for Project Mercury, United States first effort to put humans in space.  He flew the six-orbit, nine-hour Mercury-Atlas 8 mission on October 3, 1962, becoming the fifth American, and the ninth human, to ride a rocket into space.  In the two-man Gemini program, he achieved the first space rendezvous, station-keeping his Gemini 6A spacecraft within 1 ft of the sister Gemini 7 spacecraft in December 1965.  In October 1968, he commanded Apollo 7, an 11-day low Earth orbit shakedown test of the three-man Apollo Command/Service Module.  He was the first person to go into space three times, and the only person to have flown in Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo, logging a total of 295 hours and 15 minutes in space.  He retired from the U.S. Navy at the rank of Captain and from NASA after his Apollo flight, becoming a consultant to CBS News for its coverage of the subsequent Apollo flights.  He joined Walter Cronkite as co-anchor for the seven Moon landing missions. [PAR] [TLE] Music in space [SEP] Music in space is music played in or broadcast from a spacecraft in outer space.  The Smithsonian Institution claims that the first musical instruments played in outer space were an 8-note Hohner "Little Lady" harmonica and a handful of small bells carried by American astronauts Wally Schirra and Thomas P. Stafford aboard Gemini 6A.  Upon achieving a space rendezvous in Earth orbit with their sister sister ship Gemini 7 in December 1965, Schirra and Stafford played a rendition of "Jingle Bells" over the radio after jokingly claiming to have seen an unidentified flying object piloted by Santa Claus.  The harmonica was donated to the Smithsonian by Schirra in 1967, with his note that it "...plays quite well".
[PAR] [TLE] Wally Schirra [ SEP ] Walter Marty " Wally " Schirra Jr. ( March 12 , 1923 – May 3 , 2007 ) , ( CAPT , USN ) , was an American naval officer and aviator , aeronautical engineer , test pilot , and one of the original seven astronauts chosen for Project Mercury , United States first effort to put humans in space . He flew the six - orbit , nine - hour Mercury - Atlas 8 mission on October 3 , 1962 , becoming the fifth American , and the ninth human , to ride a rocket into space . In the two - man Gemini program , he achieved the first space rendezvous , station - keeping his Gemini 6A spacecraft within 1 ft of the sister Gemini 7 spacecraft in December 1965 . In October 1968 , he commanded Apollo 7 , an 11-day low Earth orbit shakedown test of the three - man Apollo Command / Service Module . He was the first person to go into space three times , and the only person to have flown in Mercury , Gemini , and Apollo , logging a total of 295 hours and 15 minutes in space . He retired from the U.S. Navy at the rank of Captain and from NASA after his Apollo flight , becoming a consultant to CBS News for its coverage of the subsequent Apollo flights . He joined Walter Cronkite as co - anchor for the seven Moon landing missions . [PAR] [TLE] Music in space [ SEP ] Music in space is music played in or broadcast from a spacecraft in outer space . The Smithsonian Institution claims that the first musical instruments played in outer space were an 8-note Hohner " Little Lady " harmonica and a handful of small bells carried by American astronauts Wally Schirra and Thomas P. Stafford aboard Gemini 6A. Upon achieving a space rendezvous in Earth orbit with their sister sister ship Gemini 7 in December 1965 , Schirra and Stafford played a rendition of " Jingle Bells " over the radio after jokingly claiming to have seen an unidentified flying object piloted by Santa Claus . The harmonica was donated to the Smithsonian by Schirra in 1967 , with his note that it " ... plays quite well " .
Who was the American astronaut that was part of Project Mercury who carried an 8-note Hohner harmonica and a handful of small bells aboard a Gemini 6A rocket ship?
Who was the American astronaut that was part of Project Mercury who carried an 8-note Hohner harmonica and a handful of small bells aboard a Gemini 6A rocket ship ?
Wally Schirra
Wally Schirra