Free Republic

Walter Cunningham, the US astronaut who was the last surviving member of NASA's Apollo 7 mission, has died aged 90. The Iowa native was lunar module pilot on the Apollo 7 mission in 1968, the first successful crewed flight of NASA's Apollo programme. Mr Cunningham was one of three astronauts aboard Apollo 7, an 11-day spaceflight that paved the way for the first moon landing less than a year later. NASA confirmed his death but did not include its cause, although a family statement said he died in hospital 'from complications of a fall, after a full and complete life'....

Texas Sen. Ted Cruz supports NASA's human space exploration program as a national priority that deserves congressional support. USA Today reports if NASA's program goes as planned, astronauts could travel to Mars by the 2030s. Cruz, a Tea Party Republican, said developing a rocket and capsule that could cost tens of billions of dollars is "critical" to ensuring American's leadership in space. "It is imperative that America has the capability to get to the space station without the assistance of the Russians," Cruz said Tuesday while chairing a hearing before the Commerce, Science and Transportation Subcommittee on Science, Space and Competitiveness. "The Commercial...

As the presidential race enters its final week and the candidates step up their efforts to woo the space vote, both sides are trotting out the biggest space guns they can find: Apollo astronauts. Over the weekend, Apollo 7 astronaut Walt Cunningham toured cities around Florida to help promote Republican hopeful Sen. John McCain’s campaign by backing the candidate and his space platform. Cunningham said he had never campaigned for a candidate before but said that unlike Democratic contender Sen. Barack Obama, McCain had a track record supporting NASA and was more reliable on the issue. Obama, he said, was...