Wally Sawyer

Walter "Wally" Sawyer (1926-1992) was an American military officer, test pilot, and U.S. Air Force astronaut. In the mid-1950s, he became one of the original astronauts chosen for Project Liberty, which was the United States' first effort to put human beings into space.
== Biography ==
== Basis ==
He is based on Mercury, Gemini, Apollo-era NASA astronaut Wally Schirra.
Spouse 	Lisa Keenan (since 1955)
Political Party	Democratic (until 1992, 2000-2012)
Republican (1992-2000) Independent (2012-present)
Religion 	Protestant (until 1972)
Deist (after 1972)
Profession 	USAF officer, NASA astronaut & Author
Brigadier General John Keenan, Sr. (born August 12, 1931, aged 84) is a former US Air Force officer and NASA astronaut, who has entered the record books as the first human to travel in space six times.
== Contents ==
* 1Early Life
** 1.1Military Service
** 1.2NASA: Gemini
** 1.3NASA: Apollo (Lunar Fly-by)
** 1.4NASA: Apollo (Lunar Landing)
** 1.5NASA: Skylab
** 1.6NASA: Space Shuttle
** 1.7NASA: Criticism & Retirement
** 1.8After NASA/Honors
** 1.9External Links
== Early Life ==
Keenan was inspired by an event in 1936 involving birds flying blissfully into the sky, it drove him to pursue a career in the air and by extension space.
=== Military Service ===
Keenan was commissioned into the USAF in 1951 and flew over 1000 hours over MiG Alley during the Korean War. He retired as a Colonel in 1974 after 23 years of service.
=== NASA: Gemini ===
Keenan's first space flight was as Second Pilot aboard Gemini 10 in 1965.
=== NASA: Apollo (Lunar Fly-by) ===
Keenan's second spaceflight was as Command Module Pilot aboard Apollo 10 in 1969.
=== NASA: Apollo (Lunar Landing) ===
Keenan's third spaceflight was as Commander of Apollo 16 in 1972.
=== NASA: Skylab ===
Keenan's fourth spaceflight was as Pilot on Skylab 5 in 1974.
=== NASA: Space Shuttle ===
Keenan flew twice aboard the space shuttles: Columbia and Challenger in 1981 and 1983, respectively. Making Keenan the first human to have flown into space six times at that point.
=== NASA: Criticism & Retirement ===
On January 28, 1986, the Space Shuttle Challenger was destroyed only about a minute into lift off, Keenan criticized NASA about the mistake and cited the AS-204 flash fire in 1967 as a major incident that also should've never taken place. Keenan parted ways with NASA later that year.
=== After NASA/Honors ===
In 2001, Keenan was given the honorary rank of Brigadier General at a gala held in Florida, celebrating his accomplishments as well as his 72nd birthday. Between 1986 and 2001, Keenan wrote a lot of books both non-fiction and fiction about space exploration and space travel. Much of it retaining scientific accuracy. In 1992, a film was produced from one of his fictional novels...
In 2009, he was offered a spaceflight aboard Virgin Galactic, though humbled he declined.
In the early 2010s, the U.S. government constructed a new military base in a desolate dry lake bed near the then small town of Mojave, it is currently named John Keenan Air and Space Port and is located in Mojave, California.
=== External Links ===
Category:Americans
Category:Astronauts
Category:Characters
Category:Sawyer Family