Astronaut Walter Schirra of Sigma 7 (MA-8) Poster

Pictured is astronaut Walter M. Schirra, one of the original seven astronauts for Mercury Project selected by NASA on April 27, 1959. Schirra's Mercury-Atlas 8 mission, during which he piloted his Sigma 7 spacecraft, was the third manned orbital flight by the United States. Mercury Atlas 8 (MA-8, also Sigma 7) was the third manned orbital flight of the Mercury program. The pilot was Walter M. Schirra, Jr. The objectives of MA-8 were to: (1) evaluate the performance of the man-spacecraft system in a six-pass orbital mission; (2) evaluate the effects of an extended orbital space flight on the astronaut and to compare this analysis with those of previous missions and astronaut-simulator programs; (3) obtain additional astronaut evaluation of the operational suitability of the spacecraft and support systems for manned orbital flights; (4) evaluate the performance of spacecraft systems replaced or modified as a result of previous three-pass orbital missions; and, (5) evaluate the performance of and exercise further the Mercury Worldwide Network and mission support forces and establish their suitability for extended manned flight.