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Aviation History
1967
1967 - 0189.PDF
. 183 RIGHT International, 2 February 1967 THE APOLLO 1 FLIGHT CREW The death of astronauts Grissom, White and Chaffee in the accident at Cape Kennedy on January 27 (reported on page 181) is a severe blow to NASA's Apollo programme. Brief biographies of the three men follow. Virgil I. Grissom, Command Pilot Born in Mitchell, Indiana, April 3, 1926; selected as Mercury astronaut in April 1959; pilot of Liberty Bell 7 on Mercury-Redstone 4 sub-orbital flight on July 21, 1961; command pilot of Gemini 3 orbital flight on March 23, 1965. Married, with two sons. Entered USAF as aviation cadet in 1944, discharged Novem- Head/ng picture." left to right, Virgil Grissom, Edward White and Roger Chaffee. Below, the Apollo I spacecraft after the January 27 fire in which the three astronauts were killed ber 1945. Graduated Purdue University with degree in mechanical engineering in 1950, returned to aviation cadet training after graduation. Received wings March 1951. Joined 75th Fighter-Intercepter Squadron at Presque Island, Maine, as F-86 pilot. Flew 100 combat missions in Korea in F-86s with 334th Fighter-Intercepter Squadron. Left Korea in June 1952 and became jet pilot instructor at Bryan, Texas. Entered USAF Institute of Technology at Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio, to study aeronautical engineering. Attended Test Pilot School at Edwards AFB in October 1956 and returned to Wright-Patterson AFB in May 1957 as test pilot, Fighter Branch. Flying hours total over 4,000, including over 3,000 in jet aircraft. Awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross and the Air Medal with Cluster for service in Korea. Edward H. White, Senior Pilot Born in San Antonio, Texas, November 14, 1930; selected as NASA astronaut in September 1962; pilot of Gemini 4 orbital flight on June 3, 1965; first US astronaut to go outside spacecraft during orbital flight. Married, with one son and one daughter. Received Air Force flying training in Florida and Texas following graduation from West Point. Spent 31 years flying F-86s and F-lOOs with a fighter squadron based in Germany. Attended Air Force Test Pilot School at Edwards AFB in 1959. Later assigned to Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio, as an experi- mental test pilot with the Aeronautical Systems Division. During this period he completed flight tests for research and weapon system development and made recommendations for improvement in aircraft design and construction. Flying hours total over 3,600, including more than 2,200 in jet aircraft. Roger B. Chaffee, Pilot Born in Grand Rapid, Michigan. February 15, 1935; selected as NASA astronaut in October 1963. Married, with one son and one daughter. Graduated Purdue University with degree in aeronautical engineering prior to entering US Navy in August 1957. Served as a pilot and as safety and quality control officer for Heavy Photographic Squadron 62 at Jacksonville, NAS, Florida. Entered Air Force Institute of Technology at Wright- Patterson AFB, Ohio, in January 1963 to work for Master of Science degree in reliability engineering. Responsible in Apollo programme for communications and Deep Space Network, and had specific area of responsibility in spacecraft attitude and translation control systems. Flying hours total more than 1,900, including approximately 1,600hr in jet aircraft.
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