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White, Edward Higgins II
White
White
Credit: www.spacefacts.de
American test pilot astronaut 1962-1967. First American to walk in space. Died in on-pad fire of Apollo 1.

Status: Deceased; Active 1962-1967. Born: 1930-11-14. Died: 1967-01-27. Spaceflights: 1 . Total time in space: 4.08 days. Birth Place: San Antonio, Texas.

Educated West Point; Michigan. USAF test pilot.

Official NASA Biography as of June 2016:EDWARD H. WHITE, II (LIEUTENANT COLONEL)
NASA ASTRONAUT (DECEASED)

PERSONAL DATA: Born in San Antonio, Texas, on November 14, 1930. Died January 27, 1967, at NASA Kennedy Space Center, Florida, in the Apollo spacecraft fire. He is survived by his wife Patricia and their two children.

EDUCATION: Bachelor of Science degree from United States Military Academy; Master of Science degree in Aeronautical Engineering, University of Michigan.

ORGANIZATIONS: Associate member of Institute of Aerospace Sciences; Member of Sigma Delta Psi, athletic honorary; and Member of Tau Beta Pi, engineering honorary.

AWARDS: Posthumously awarded the Congressional Space Medal of Honor.

SPECIAL HONORS: Golden Plate Award; Honorary Doctorate degree in Astronautics, University of Michigan; NASA Exceptional Service Medal and Senior Astronaut Wings; Medalha Bandeirantes va Cosmonautica; Firefly Club Award; Ten Outstanding Young Men of the Nation for 1965; Five Outstanding Young Texans for 1965; The John Fitzgerald Kennedy Trophy; Aerospace Primus Club; 1966 Achievement Award, National Aviation Club; General Thomas White Award.

EXPERIENCE: White, an Air Force Lieutenant Colonel, received flight training in Florida and Texas, following his graduation from West Point. He then spent 3-1/2 years in Germany with a fighter squadron, flying F-86s and F-100s.

He attended the Air Force Test Pilot School at Edwards Air Force Base, California, in 1959.

White was later assigned to Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, as an experimental test pilot with the Aeronautical Systems Division. In this assignment he made flight tests for research and weapons systems development, wrote technical engineering reports, and made recommendations for improvement in aircraft design and construction.

He logged more than 3,000 hours flying time, including more than 2,200 hours in jet aircraft.

NASA EXPERIENCE: White was named as a member of the astronaut team selected by NASA in September 1962. He was pilot for Gemini 4, which was a 66-revolution, 4-day mission that began on June 3, and ended on June 7, 1965. During the third revolution, he carried out the first extra vehicular activity in the United States manned space flight program. He was outside Gemini 4 for 21 minutes, and became the first man to control himself in space during EVA with a maneuvering unit. Other highlights of the mission included cabin depressurization, opening of cabin doors, and 12 scientific and medical experiments. He received the NASA Exceptional Service Medal and the U.S. Air Force Senior Astronaut Wings for this Flight. On March 21, 1966, he was named as one of the pilots of the AS-204 mission, the first 3-man Apollo flight.

Lieutenant Colonel White died on January 27, 1967, in the Apollo spacecraft flash fire during a launch pad test at Kennedy Space Center, Florida.

DECEMBER 1997

Official Biography

NAME: Edward H. White II

BIRTHPLACE AND DATE: White was born November 14, 1930, in San Antonio, Texas.

EDUCATION: Bachelor of Science degree from the United States Military Academy in 1952. Master of Science degree from the University of Michigan in 1959., Honorary Doctorate in Astronautics from the University of Michigan in 1965.

EDUCATION: White received flight training in Florida and Texas, then spent three years in Germany with an Air Force fighter squadron, flying F-86 and F-100 fighter-bombers. In 1959 he attended the Air Force Test Pilot School at Edwards Air Force Base, California, and later was assigned to Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, as experimental test pilot with the Aeronautical System Division.

NASA selected White as an astronaut in 1962. He and Commander James A. McDivitt were assigned to the four-day Gemini 4 mission that launched on June 3, 1965. On the first day of the flight, White made America's first spacewalk, a 21-minute EVA during which he manoeuvred on the end of a 25-foot tether using a hand-held gas gun. During the remainder of the flight, McDivitt and White completed twelve scientific and medical experiments.

White and fellow Apollo 1 astronauts, Gus Grissom and Roger Chaffee, died in a spacecraft fire during a launch pad test on Jan. 27, 1967.

AWARDS AND HONORS: Air Force Commendation Medal; NASA Exceptional Service Medal; Arnold Air Society JFK Trophy for 1966; Air Force Systems Command Aerospace Primus Club Award; General Thomas D. White United States Air Force Space Trophy for 1965; selected one of the Ten Outstanding Young Men of America in 1965.



More at: White.

Family: Astronaut. Country: USA. Spacecraft: Gemini. Flights: Gemini 4, Gemini 7, Apollo 204. Agency: USAF. Bibliography: 6195.
Photo Gallery



Apollo 204Apollo 204
Apollo 1 prime crew in spacesuits at the launch complex
Credit: NASA


Gemini 4 EVAGemini 4 EVA
Astronaut Edward White during first EVA performed during Gemini 4 flight
Credit: NASA



1930 November 14 - .
1962 April 18 - .
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1965 June 3 - . 15:16 GMT - . Launch Site: Cape Canaveral. Launch Complex: Cape Canaveral LC19. LV Family: Titan. Launch Vehicle: Titan II GLV.
1965 June 3 - . 19:46 GMT - .
1965 June 7 - .
1965 December 4 - . 19:30 GMT - . Launch Site: Cape Canaveral. Launch Complex: Cape Canaveral LC19. LV Family: Titan. Launch Vehicle: Titan II GLV.
1966 October 19 - . Launch Vehicle: Saturn I.
1967 January 27 - . Launch Site: Cape Canaveral. Launch Complex: Cape Canaveral. LV Family: Saturn I. Launch Vehicle: Saturn IB.
1967 January 27 - .
1967 January 31 - .

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