  As author of LAUNCH Magazine's Viewpoint column, former Apollo 7 astronaut Walter Cunningham is known for straight talk—a trait sorely missing in today’s world of political correctness. Cunningham’s unquestioned credibility on matters involving space, science, the military, finance and corporate management stems from 45 years of experience accumulated during separate careers in the United States Marine Corps, NASA and private industry.
Since 1971, Cunningham has been in private business in Houston—where he has served as president of two engineering companies, each with extensive overseas operations, and as vice president of operations for one of the largest commercial property developers in the U. S. He is also the former president of an interactive voice response company, and has been involved in the start-up and early stage development of more than 30 companies and financial institutions. In addition, he served as host of Lift-off to Logic, a radio talk show in Houston.
A former Marine Corps fighter pilot, Cunningham is best known as one of the nation’s pioneering astronauts. In 1967, he served as a member of the Apollo 1 fire investigation board, and in 1968 he orbited the Earth 163 times as the pilot of Apollo 7—the first manned Apollo flight. Following that mission, he became Chief of the Skylab Astronauts.
Cunningham presently holds the rank of Colonel, USMCR, Retired, with 4,500 hours of flying time, including 263 hours in space. He has a Master's Degree in Physics from UCLA and is a graduate of the Advanced Management Program at the Harvard Graduate School of Business. A member of the Astronaut Hall of Fame, he is author of The All American Boys, a book about the human side of the space program. For more details on Walt Cunningham’s career, visit www.waltercunningham.com.
And click below to read Cunningham’s Viewpoint columns that have appeared in LAUNCH, along with an in-depth interview published by the magazine.
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In Science, Ignorance is not Bliss |
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NASA has played a key role in one of the greatest periods of scientific progress in history. It is uniquely positioned to collect the most comprehensive data on our biosphere.
For example, recently generated NASA data enabled scientists to finally understand the Gulf Stream warming mechanism and its effect on European weather. Such data will allow us to improve our models, resulting in better seasonal forecasts. NASA’s Aqua satellite is showing that water vapor, the dominant greenhouse gas, works to offset the effect of carbon dioxide (CO2). This information, contrary to the assumption used in all the warming models, is ignored by global warming alarmists. Climate understanding and critical decision making require comprehensive data about our planet’s land, sea, and atmosphere. Without an adequate satellite system to provide such data, policy efforts and monitoring international environmental agreements are doomed to failure. Our satellite monitoring capability is being crippled by interagency wrangling and federal budget issues. As much as a third of our satellites need replacing in the next couple of years.
NASA should be at the forefront in the collection of scientific evidence and debunking the current hysteria over human-caused, or Anthropogenic Global Warming (AGW). Unfortunately, it is becoming just another agency caught up in the politics of global warming, or worse, politicized science. Advocacy is replacing objective evaluation of data, while scientific data is being ignored in favor of emotions and politics. |
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