WASHINGTON, May 3 (Xinhua) -- Pioneering astronaut Walter Schirra, the only man who flew in all three of America's first human space projects -- Mercury, Gemini and Apollo -- died Wednesday night, NASA said Thursday in a statement.

    Schirra's family reported he died of natural causes at the age of 84. He was one of America's original seven astronauts, selected in 1959, and was commander of the first crew to fly into space aboard an Apollo capsule, Apollo 7, following the tragic launch pad fire that claimed the lives of the crew of Apollo 1.

    "With the passing of Wally Schirra, we at NASA note with sorrow the loss of yet another of the pioneers of human space flight," NASA Administrator Michael Griffin said. "As a Mercury astronaut, Wally was a member of the first group of astronauts to be selected, often referred to as the Original Seven."

    Schirra's first space flight was piloting the fifth Mercury mission on Oct. 3, 1962, orbiting the Earth six times in 9 hours and 13 minutes. During the flight he took hundreds of photos of the Earth and space phenomena.

    As commander of Gemini 6-A, which launched on Dec. 15, 1965, Schirra flew with astronaut Tom Stafford on a mission that included the first rendezvous of two manned, maneuverable spacecraft. Gemini 6-A and Gemini 7 flew in formation for five hours, as close as one foot to one another.

    During his 11-day Apollo 7 flight, which began Oct. 11, 1968, he and fellow crewmembers Walt Cunningham and Donn Eisele tested the Apollo systems and proved Apollo was ready to take astronauts to the moon. ¡¡