We choose to go to the moon. We choose to go to the moon
in this decade and do the other things, not because they are
easy, but because they are hard.
John F. Kennedy
Sept. 12, 1962
|
Edward Higgins White II
Astronaut
| Date of Birth: |
November 14, 1930 |
| Place of Birth: |
San Antonio, TX |
| Died: |
January 27, 1967 |
| Cause of Death: |
Killed in the Apollo 1 fire |
| Joined NASA: |
September 17, 1962 |
| Space Flights: |
1 |
| Time in Space: |
4 days, 1 hour, 56 minutes |
| Number of EVA's: |
1 (first EVA by an American) |
| Total EVA Time: |
36 minutes |
|
MISSION ASSIGNMENTS
Gemini 4
June 3-7, 1965
Assignment: Pilot
Flight Duration: 4 days, 1 hour, 56 minutes
Gemini 7
Assignment: Back-up Command Pilot
Apollo 1
Assignment: Senior Pilot
HIGHLIGHTS
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B.Sc.,Aeronautical Engineering, West Point, 1952
M.Sc., Aeronautical Engineering, Univ. of Michigan, 1959
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Received USAF pilots wings in 1953 and was assigned to Germany.
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Graduate of the USAF Experimental Test Pilot School, Edwards AFB, California, 1959.
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Assigned to Wright-Patterson AFB, Dayton, Ohio, as a test pilot until selection by NASA.
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1963, assigned to Flight Control Systems for Gemini.
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1965, became the first American to walk in space during the Gemini 4 mission, spending 21 minutes of his 36 minute EVA outside the space craft.
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1966, originally the Back-up Command Pilot for Gemini 7, he was reassigned as the Senior Pilot for the first manned Apollo mission.
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1967, Ed White was killed, along with crewmates Gus Grissom and Roger Chaffee, in the Apollo 1 fire at Kennedy Space Center. The official cause of death was asphyxiation.
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He was buried with full military honors at West Point.
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