EDWARD HIGGINS WHITE, II

LT COLONEL, UNITED STATES AIR FORCE

Edward White, Apollo 1 Senior Pilot, was born in San Antonio, Texas on 14 November 1930. He was graduated from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point in 1952 and proudly served in the United States Air Force, eventually attaining the rank of Lieutenant Colonel.

Lt. Colonel White became the first American to walk in space on the flight of Gemini 4 (3 June 1965). Every item used on this first EVA (extravehicular activity) was new ~ from the cameras to the first American space suit specifically built to protect the astronaut in the harsh void of space. Propelling himself about with a handheld AMU (propulsion gun), he performed a 100% successful EVA, reporting that he could see “the whole coast of California”. Mission Commander, Major James McDivitt, joined in the fun from the spacecraft by shouting “You smeared up my windshield, you dirty dog!”. Ed reported no sensation of falling, and loved every second of the approximately 20 minutes spent outside of the spacecraft in a spectacularly successful space walk.

Ed was awarded the NASA Exceptional Service Medal and the Astronaut Hall of Fame Medal of Honor.

On 17 December 1997, Ed was posthumously awarded the Congressional Space Medal of Honor.