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Ed White

Edward Higgins White, II
Nationality	American
Status	Deceased
Born	November 14, 1930 San Antonio, Texas
Died	January 27, 1967 (aged 36) Cape Canaveral, Florida
Other occupation	Test Pilot
Rank	Lieutenant Colonel, USAF
Time in space	4d 01h 56m
Selection	1962 NASA Group
Total EVAs	1
Total EVA time	36 minutes
Missions	Gemini 4, Apollo 1
Edward White during EVA. During the Gemini 4 mission, White became the first American astronaut to perform a spacewalk.
Crew photo, Apollo 1.

Edward Higgins White, II (Lt Col, USAF) (November 14, 1930 – January 27, 1967) was an engineer, United States Air Force officer and a NASA astronaut. On June 3, 1965, he became the first American to "walk" in space. White was killed along with fellow astronauts Gus Grissom and Roger Chaffee during a pre-launch test for the first manned Apollo mission at the Kennedy Space Center. He was posthumously awarded the Congressional Space Medal of Honor and had previously been awarded the NASA Distinguished Service Medal for his Gemini 4 spaceflight and was posthumously awarded the Congressional Space Medal of Honor.

Early years

White was born in San Antonio, Texas, where he attended school and became a member of the Boy Scouts of America. After graduation from high school, he was accepted to the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, where in 1952 he earned his Bachelor of Science degree and his second lieutenant's bar. White then chose a commission with the U.S. Air Force and attended flight school, a course that takes more than a year. Following graduation from flight school, white was assigned to the 22nd Fighter Day Squadron at Bitburg Air Base, Germany and would spend three and a half years in Germany flying in F-86 Sabre and F-100 Super Sabre squadrons.

In 1958, White enrolled in the University of Michigan under Air Force sponsorship to study aeronautical engineering, where he earned his Master of Science degree in 1959. Following graduation, White was selected to attend the U.S. Air Force Test Pilot School at Edwards Air Force Base and was then assigned as a test pilot at the Aeronautical Systems Division at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base. During his career, White would log more than 3,000 flight hours with the Air Force, including about 2,200 hours in jets, and would ultimately attain the rank of lieutenant colonel.

In 1953, White married Patricia (Finegan), whom he met while at West Point. The Whites would have two children, Edward White III (born 15 September, 1953) and Bonnie Lynn White (born 15 May, 1956).

NASA career

Main article: Gemini 4

This is the saddest moment of my life.

– Astronaut Edward H. White while reentering the spacecraft after his EVA, having been ordered by Houston to return to the capsule

White was one of nine men chosen as part of the second group of astronauts in 1962. Within an already elite group, White was considered to be a high-flier by the management of NASA. As the pilot of Gemini 4, White became the first American to make a walk in space, on June 3, 1965. He found the experience so exhilarating that he was reluctant to terminate the EVA at the allotted time, and had to be ordered back into the spacecraft. While he was outside, a spare thermal glove floated away through the open hatch of the spacecraft, becoming an early piece of space debris in low-earth orbit, until it burned up upon re-entry into the Earth's atmosphere.

White's next assignment after Gemini 4 was as the back-up for Gemini 7 Command Pilot Frank Borman. He was also named the astronaut specialist for the flight control systems of the Apollo Command/Service Module. By the usual procedure of crew rotation in the Gemini program, White would have been in line for a second flight as the Command Pilot of Gemini 10, which would have made him the first of his group to fly twice. But in 1966 he was selected as Senior Pilot (second seat) for the first manned Apollo flight, designated AS-204.

Death

Main article: Apollo 1

White trained and prepared with Command Pilot Virgil "Gus" Grissom, who had flown in space on the Mercury 4 Liberty Bell 7 mission and as commander of the Gemini 3 Molly Brown mission, and Pilot Roger Chaffee, who had yet to fly into space, for a planned February 21, 1967 launch of AS-204, which the men unofficially named Apollo 1. On January 27, they participated in the first "plugs-out" test of the spacecraft at Kennedy Space Center, Florida, intended to rehearse the countdown procedure for launch. Mid-way through the test, a fire broke out in the cabin, killing all three men.

White was buried with full military honors at West Point Cemetery while Grissom and Chaffee are both buried in Section 3 of Arlington National Cemetery.

In 1997, White was posthumously awarded the Congressional Space Medal of Honor. White was inducted into the Astronaut Hall of Fame in 1993 and the National Aviation Hall of Fame on July 18, 2009.

Memorials

Schools

Many schools have been named in honor of Lt Colonel White:

• Edward White Elementary Career Academy in Chicago
• Edward H. White Middle School in San Antonio, Texas
• Ed White Elementary School in El Lago, Texas
• Ed White Memorial High School in League City, Texas
• Edward H. White High School in Jacksonville, Florida
• Edward H. White Elementary School in Houston, Texas.
• Ed White Middle School in Huntsville, Alabama. Huntsville is home to NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center and has strong community ties to the space program. At the same time, the Huntsville City Schools named Roger B. Chaffee Elementary School and Virgil I. Grissom High School for White's fallen Apollo 1 crewmates.

Other sites

One of two Apollo 1 memorial plaques at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station Launch Complex 34.

• Edward White Hospital in St. Petersburg, Florida.
• Edward H. White II Park in Fullerton, California. Fullerton has also named parks in honor of Chaffee and Grissom.
• Island White, an artificial island in Long Beach Harbor off Southern California.
• Edward H. White Hall is a dormitory at Sheppard Air Force Base in Wichita Falls, Texas. White Hall houses the 365th Training Squadron which train aircraft avionics troops.
• Edward White Way, a service road at Oakland International Airport, Oakland, California.
• McDivitt-White Plaza is located outside of West Hall at the University of Michigan. West Hall formerly housed the College of Engineering and counts James McDivitt and Ed White among its alumni (McDivitt earned his B.S. and White earned his M.S. at the University of Michigan).
• The dismantled Launch Pad 34 at Cape Canaveral bears two memorial plaques: One says, They gave their lives in service to their country in the ongoing exploration of humankind's final frontier. Remember them not for how they died but for those ideals for which they lived. and the other, In memory of those who made the ultimate sacrifice so others could reach for the stars. Ad astra per aspera, (a rough road leads to the stars). God speed to the crew of Apollo 1.

In space

• The star Iota Ursae Majoris was nicknamed "Dnoces" ("Second", as in "Edward Higgins White the Second", spelled backwards).
• White Hill, 11.2 km (7.0 mi) northwest of Columbia Memorial Station on Mars, is a part of the Apollo 1 Hills.

Accomplishments in Space Commemorative Issue of 1967

Philatelic

• Eight months after his death, in September 1967, a postage stamp was issued by the United States Post Office, commemorating White's space walk, the first-ever by an American. It was the first time in USPO history that the design was actually spread over two stamps (one which featured White, the other his Gemini capsule, the two connected by a tether), which was considered befitting the "twins" aspect of the Gemini mission. White's name did not appear on the stamps.

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.

Physical description

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