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Personal: Male, Married, One child. Born in Haverford, Pennsylvania, USA. Crash of T-38 trainer after bird strike on windshield. US Air Force US Air Force Astronaut Career Astronaut Group: NASA Group 3 - 1963. Deceased Entered space service: 17 October 1963. Left space service: 1964. Official NASA Biography
NAME: Theodore C. Freeman (Captain, USAF) PERSONAL DATA: Born February 18, 1930, in Haverford, Pennsylvania. Died October 31, 1964, at Ellington Air Force Base, Houston, Texas, in the crash of a T-38 jet. Survived by his wife Faith and one daughter. EDUCATION: Freeman completed his secondary education in 1948. He attended the University of Delaware at Newark for one year, then entered the United States Naval Academy and graduated in 1953 with a Bachelor of Science degree. In 1960, he received a Master of Science degree in Aeronautical Engineering from the University of Michigan. ORGANIZATIONS: Member of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, and the Society of Experimental Test Pilots. EXPERIENCE: Freeman graduated from both the Air Force's Experimental Test Pilot and Aerospace Research Pilot Courses. He elected to serve with the Air Force. His last Air Force assignment was as a flight test aeronautical engineer and experimental flight test instructor at the Aerospace Research Pilot School at Edwards Air Force Base, California. He served primarily in performance flight testing and stability testing areas. He logged more than 3,300 hours flying time, including more than 2,400 hours in jet aircraft. NASA EXPERIENCE: Freeman was one of the third group of astronauts selected by NASA in October 1963. NOVEMBER 1964 Freeman Chronology 5 June 1963 - 10 to 15 new astronauts to begin training in October. NASA announced that it would select 10 to 15 new astronauts to begin training in October. Civilian applications were due July 1; those from military personnel, prescreened by their services, were due July 15. New selection criteria reduced the maximum age to 35 years and eliminated the requirement for test pilot certifications. 17 October 1963 - NASA Astronaut Training Group 3 selected.. The group was selected to provide crew members for planned Apollo missions (then planned as 4 Saturn I missions in 1965, 2-4 Saturn IB missions in 1966, 6 Saturn V missions from 1967).. Qualifications: Qualified jet pilot with minimum 1,000 flight-hours, bachleor's degree in engineering or physical or biological sciences, under 35 years old, under 183 cm height, excellent health. US citizen.. There were 271 applications, 200 from civilians (including two women) and 71 from military pilots (including two African-Americans). President Kennedy pushed for NASA to appoint a black astronaut, but neither of the applicants met the test pilot requirements. Bobby Kennedy arranged for one of these, USAF Captain Edward Dwight, to be enrolled in the USAF Test Pilot school. He graduated, and then had the necessary qualifications. He was 28 years old, an engineering school graduate, and a B-57 bomber command pilot with 2,000 hours flying time. However NASA did not find him as well qualified as other candidates, and he was not among the 32 chosen for final physical and mental tests. From these 32, the final 14 were selected. Of them, four would die (two in a T-38 crash, one in a car crash, and one in the Apollo 204 ground fire) before flying in space. All of the ten remaining would fly in the Apollo program. 18 October 1963 - Selection of 14 astronauts for Projects Gemini and Apollo. NASA announced the selection of 14 astronauts for Projects Gemini and Apollo, bringing to 30 the total number of American spacemen. They were Maj. Edwin E. Aldrin, Jr., Capt. William A. Anders, Capt. Charles A. Bassett II, Capt. Michael Collins, Capt. Donn F. Eisele, Capt. Theodore C. Freeman, and Capt. David R. Scott of the Air Force; Lt. Cdr. Richard F. Gordon, Jr., Lt. Alan L. Bean, Lt. Eugene A. Cernan, and Lt. Roger B. Chaffee of the Navy; Capt. Clifton C. Williams, Jr., of the Marine Corps; R. Walter Cunningham, research scientist for the Rand Corporation; and Russell L. Schweickart, research scientist for MIT. 3 February 1964 - Fourteen new astronauts reported for training. Fourteen new astronauts, chosen in October 1963, reported at MSC for training for the Gemini and Apollo programs. 31 October 1964 - Astronaut Theodore C Freeman died in an aircraft accident. Astronaut Theodore C. Freeman died in an aircraft accident at Ellington Air Force Base, near Houston. Freeman, an Air Force captain and a member of NASA's third group of spacemen, was preparing to land his T-38 training jet when it struck a goose and lost power. He ejected from his aircraft, but did not have sufficient altitude for his parachute to open. Freeman thus became the first American astronaut to lose his life in the quest for the moon. 31 October 1964 - Astronaut Theodore Cordy (Ted) Freeman dies at age of 34 -- Crash of T-38 trainer after bird strike on windshield.. 16 February 1965 - Specialty areas for 13 astronauts not assigned to Gemini. MSC announced a realignment of specialty areas for the 13 astronauts not assigned to forthcoming Gemini missions (GT 3 through 5) or to strictly administrative positions:
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