Edward Higgins White

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Edward Higgins White, II (Lt.Col , USAF) (November 14, 1930 – January 27, 1967) was a United States Air Force officer and a NASA astronaut. On June 3 1965, he became the first American to conduct a spacewalk. White was killed during the Apollo 1 training accident and posthumously awarded the Congressional Space Medal of Honor and the Purple Heart Medal.

[edit] Early years

He was born in San Antonio, Texas and earned a B.S. from the U.S. Military Academy in 1952,^[1] and an M.S. in aeronautical engineering from the University of Michigan in 1959. He attained the rank of Lieutenant Colonel in the United States Air Force and was a pilot of F-86 and F-100 fighter jets. White was an experimental test pilot for the Aeronautical Systems Division and logged more than 3,000 flight hours, including 2,200 in jet aircraft. He was married to Patricia Finegan White and had two children, Bonnie Lynn and Edward III.

[edit] NASA career

He was chosen as part of second group of astronauts in 1962. Within an already elite group, White was considered a high-flyer by the NASA management. As pilot of Gemini 4, he was the first American to make a spacewalk (on June 3 1965) and was backup command pilot for Gemini 7. White was also made Astronaut specialist for the flight control systems of the Apollo CSM. By the usual process of crew rotation in the Gemini program, White would have been in line for a second orbital flight as Command Pilot of Gemini 10 — making him the first of his group to be selected to fly twice — but instead was 1966 promoted to be command module pilot for the first fateful Apollo program flight AS-204.

[edit] Death

He died with fellow astronauts "Gus" Grissom and Roger Chaffee in the Apollo 1 fire at Kennedy Space Center, Florida. He was buried with full military honors at West Point Cemetery and in 1997 was posthumously awarded the Congressional Space Medal of Honor. Grissom and Chaffee are both buried in Section 3 of Arlington National Cemetery.

[edit] Memorials

• The star Iota Ursae Majoris was named "Dnoces" ("Second", as in "Edward Higgins White the Second", spelled backwards) in his honor.
• White Hill, 11.2 km (7.0 mi) northwest of Columbia Memorial Station on Mars, is named after him as part of the Apollo 1 Hills.
• An artificial island in Long Beach Harbor off Southern California is named for him.
• Edward White Hospital in St. Petersburg, Florida was named in his honor.
• Edward H. White Career Academy[1] in Chicago, Edward H. White Middle School[2] in San Antonio, Texas, Ed White Elementary School[3] in El Lago, Texas, Ed White Memorial High School[4] in League City, Texas, and Edward H. White Senior High School[5] in Jacksonville, Florida were all named in his honor.
• Ed White Middle School in Huntsville, Alabama, is named after him.^[2] Huntsville, also known as "Rocket City" because it is a major center for space technology and rocket development, simultaneously named Roger B. Chaffee Elementary and Virgil I. Grissom High School for his Apollo 1 crewmates.
• Edward H. White II Park in Fullerton, California is named for him.^[3] Fullerton has also named parks in honor of Chaffee and Grissom.
• Later in 1967, White was honored on a U.S. postage stamp though his name was not mentioned. The stamp featured his space walk.^[4]

[edit] White in the movies

White was played by Steven Ruge in the 1995 film Apollo 13 and by Chris Isaak in the 1998 miniseries From the Earth to the Moon.

[edit] Physical description

Weight: 176 lb (80 kg)
Height: 5 ft 11 in (1.80 m)
Hair: Reddish Brown
Eyes: brown

[edit] References

1. ^ Prior to establishment of the United States Air Force Academy in 1954, officers in the United States Air Force were drawn from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point and the U.S. Naval Academy at Annapolis.
2. ^ Ed White Middle School, Huntsville (Ala.) City Schools official site
3. ^ City of Fullerton - List of Parks
4. ^ http://www.skyimagelab.com/gemspacwal.html

[edit] External links

• NASA biography
• Astronaut Memorial Foundation website

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