Edward Higgins White
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{{Infobox Astronaut | name =Edward Higgins White, II | image =EdwardWhite.jpeg | USA =USA | nationality =American | date_birth =November 14, 1930 | date_death =January 27, 1967 | place_birth =San Antonio, Texas | place_death =Cape Canaveral, Florida | occupation =Test Pilot | rank =Lieutenant Colonel, USAF | selection =1962 NASA Group | time =4d 01h 56m | mission =Gemini 4, Apollo 1 | insignia =Image:Gemini4-Patch.jpg Image:Apollo 1 patch.jpg |}} Edward Higgins White, II (Lt.Col , USAF) (November 14, 1930 – January 27, 1967) was an American astronaut.
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Physical description
Weight: 176 lb (80 kg)
Height: 5 ft 11 in (1.80 m)
Hair: Reddish Brown
Eyes: Brown
Early years
He was born in San Antonio, Texas and earned a B.S. from the U.S. Military Academy in 1952Template:Ref, 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.
NASA
He was chosen with the 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 in 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 programme, 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 fatefully instead in 1966 was promoted to be command module pilot for the first Apollo program flight.
Death
He died with fellow astronauts Virgil Grissom and Roger Chaffee in the tragic Apollo 1 fire at Kennedy Space Center, Florida. He was buried with full military honours at West Point Cemetery and posthumously awarded the Congressional Space Medal of Honor.
Legacy
Edward White Hospital in St. Petersburg, Florida was named in his honor. Edward H. White Middle School in San Antonio, Texas, Ed White Middle School in Huntsville, Alabama and Ed White Elementary School in Houston, Texas were named in his honor. Ed White Sr High School (Jacksonville, FL) The star Iota Ursae Majoris was named "Dnoces" ("Second", as in "Edward Higgins White the Second", spelled backwards) in his honor.
An artificial island in San Pedro Bay off Southern California, is also named for him.
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.
Notes
- Template:Note 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.
External links
Image:Ed White spacewalk.jpgcs:Edward Higgins White de:Edward Higgins White es:Edward Higgins White II it:Edward White hu:Edward White nl:Edward White pl:Edward White pt:Edward Higgins White II sk:Edward Higgins White sl:Edward Higgins White II. zh:爱德华·怀特
