Last surviving NASA's Apollo 7 astronaut Walter Cunningham dies at 90

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Walter Cunningham, the last surviving astronaut from the first successful crewed space mission in NASA's Apollo program, died at the age of 90 on 3 January.

An overview of the news

• Walter Cunningham was the last surviving astronaut of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's (NASA) Apollo mission, the first successful manned space mission crew.

• NASA confirmed Cunningham's death, and said that he was "instrumental in the success of our Moon landing program".

• Cunningham was born in Creston, Iowa, and earned a master's degree in physics from the University of California, Los Angeles.

• Cunningham was the lunar module pilot on the space flight, which launched from Cape Kennedy Air Force Station, Florida, on October 11 and splashed down in the Atlantic Ocean, south of Bermuda.

Apollo 7 Mission 

• Apollo 7 was the first crewed flight of an Apollo spacecraft, carrying astronauts Walter Schirra, Jr., Don Eisele, and Walter Cunningham.

• Walter Cunningham was one of the crew members of the Apollo-7 mission sent to space by NASA in 1968.

• The mission was for a total of 11 days and its launch was telecast live.

• It was only through the Apollo-7 mission that it was possible for astronauts to land on the surface of the Moon later.