Did You Know:
All three crew members of the Apollo 7 shakedown mission, (Wally Schirra, Donn Eisle and Walter Cunningham), had their space flight careers at NASA ended after the "grumpy" Apollo 7 mission.
Despite the 11 day mission being a technical success, they never flew in space again. Notably, Wally Schirra who was one of the original Mercury Seven and the only astronaut at the time to have flown in all three space programs – Mercury, Gemini and Apollo.
"Throughout the Mercury and Gemini programs, McDonnell Aircraft engineer Guenter Wendt had been leader of the spacecraft launch pad teams, with ultimate responsibility for condition of the spacecraft at launch. He had come to be respected and admired by all the astronauts, including Schirra. But since the Apollo contractor had been changed from McDonnell to North American Rockwell, Wendt had not been pad leader for Apollo 1.
So adamant was Schirra in his desire to have Wendt back as Pad Leader for his Apollo flight, that he got his boss Deke Slayton to persuade North American management to hire Wendt away from McDonnell, and Schirra personally lobbied North American's launch operations manager to change Wendt's shift from midnight to day so he could be pad leader for Apollo 7. So Wendt remained as Pad Leader for the entire Apollo program.
Wendt's face was the last they saw before the hatch was sealed, and immediately after liftoff Eisele said with a mock German accent into his radio, "I vonder vere Guenter Vendt?"
Courtesy NASA
Being grumpy after catching head colds during the 11 day earth orbit mission did not help matters either. In zero gravity having a cold makes for a very, very miserable duration within the cramped confines of the Command Module. Mucus build up cannot be easily expelled from the sinuses. Apsirin and decongestants did not help. The crew also complained about the food (too crumbly)and also wanted to leave their helmets off during re-entry so that they could equalise the pressure in their ears by pinching their noses. Here is a transcript of the grumpy Schirra discussing this with mission control:
CAPCOM Number 1 (Deke Slayton): Okay. I think you ought to clearly understand there is absolutely no experience at all with landing without the helmet on.
SCHIRRA: And there no experience with the helmet either on that one.
CAPCOM: That one we've got a lot of experience with, yes.
SCHIRRA: If we had an open visor, I might go along with that.
CAPCOM: Okay. I guess you better be prepared to discuss in some detail when we land why we haven't got them on. I think you're too late now to do much about it.
SCHIRRA: That's affirmative. I don't think anybody down there has worn the helmets as much as we have.
CAPCOM: Yes.
SCHIRRA: We tried them on this morning.
CAPCOM: Understand that. The only thing we're concerned about is the landing. We couldn't care less about the reentry. But it's your neck, and I hope you don't break it.
SCHIRRA: Thanks, babe.
CAPCOM: Over and out.[5] Courtesy NASA