Walter Cunningham umuhanga mu by’isanzure w’umunyamerika wari usigagaye mu bari bagize ubutumwa bwa NASA bwa mbere bwerekanywe burimo kuba kuri television, yapfuye ku myaka 90.
Apollo 7 ni ubutumwa bwarimo abantu batatu bwamaze iminsi 11 mu isanzure mu 1968 bwageragezaga igikorwa cyo guhagarara mu isanzure. Ariko kandi bwanatsindiye igihembo cya ‘Emmy Award’ kubera amashusho yabwo yaciye kuri TV.
Bwahaye inzira ubutumwa bwa Apollo 11 bwaguye ku butaka bw’ukwezi hashize igihe kitagera ku mwaka.
NASA yemeje urupfu rwa Cunningham, ivuga ko yari “ingirakamaro ku gushoboka kwa porogaramu yacu yageze ku kwezi neza”.
Umwe mubo mu muryango we yavuze ko yaguye mu bitaro by’i Houston kuwa kabiri kubera impamvu zisanzwe “nyuma y’ubuzima bwose kandi bwuzuye”.
Ubutumwa bw’umuryango we bwatangajwe na NASA bugira buti: “Turifuza gutangaza ishema rikomeye dutewe n’ubuzima yabayeho, no gushima cyane umugabo yari we – ukunda igihugu, umushakashatsi, umupilote, ujya mu isanzure, umubyeyi, umuvandimwe”.
Cunningham yavukiye ahitwa Creston muri leta ya Iowa abona impamyabumenyi ya masters mu bugenge (physics) ya kaminuza ya California i Los Angeles.
Ubwo icyo gihe yakoraga nk’umusivile, yari umwe mu ba ‘astronauts’ batatu batoranyijwe kuba abantu ba mbere bajyana n’ikigendajuru cya Apollo.
Nk’umupilote wa Apollo 7, yari kumwe na Walter Schirra wari kapiteni mu ngabo, na Donn Eisele wari majoro mu ngabo zirwanira mu kirere.
:max_bytes(150000):strip_icc():focal(835x0:837x2)/Walter-Cunningham-dead-20100108_96-3bb33a89680b4afc9940d3e4be684e2f.jpg)
Mbere nawe yari yarabaye umusirikare kandi yaratwaye indege z’intambara zigera kuri 54 mu ntambara muri Korea, yavuye mu gisirikare afite ipeti rya colonel.
Nyuma yo gusezera muri NASA mu 1971, yabaye umuntu ubwira benshi inararibonye ye akanayobora ibiganiro bya radio.
Gusa yanabaye umuntu uzwi cyane nk’umuhakanyi w’ihindagurika ry’ikirere ritewe na muntu, nubwo abahanga muri siyanse bemeza ko abantu bafite uruhare mu kwiyongera k’ubushyuhe ku isi.
Mu kiganiro yatanze mu 1999, yavuze ko ari umuntu utajya ureba inyuma.
Yagize ati: “Ndi umwe muri ba bantu batigeze rwose bareba inyuma…Iteka ryose nakomeje kureba imbere. Sinjya mba mu mpitagihe.”
@BBC
