Forgotten Astronauts

<body topmargin=0 leftmargin=0 marginheight=0 marginwidth=0> <table cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 border=0><tr> <td valign="top" colspan=2 height=22 BGCOLOR="#330099" TEXT="#080000" bgproperties="fixed" background="040000d2erkqrf.gif"> <div> Derby and District Astronomical Society - Aries Magazine</div> <div> </div> </td> </tr><tr> <td valign="top" width=145 BGCOLOR="#333399" TEXT="#080000" background="03fa2c00erkjzj.gif"> <div> <A HREF="index.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Aries Astronomy magazine on line Derby a"><U>HOME</U></A></div> <bR> <div> <A HREF="editorial.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Aries on line Autumn 2000 editorial"><U>Aries on line - Autumn 2000 editorial</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="double_stars.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Double Stars"><U>Double Stars</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id25.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Pluto and Back for bed"><U>Pluto and Back for bed</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="vla.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="VLA Radio telescope"><U>VLA Radio telescope</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id27.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Beginners nebulae"><U>Beginners - nebulae</U></A></div> <div> <B>Forgotten Astronauts</B></div> <div> <A HREF="id29.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Sky Scene Oct Dec 2000"><U>Sky Scene Oct - Dec 2000</U></A></div> <bR> </td> <td valign="top" height=458 BGCOLOR="#FFFFFF" TEXT="#080000" background="06a92963.gif"> <div> <I>Aries Astronomy magazine on line- Derby and District Astronomical Society</I></div> <div> <IMG SRC="04107040.gif" border=0 width="263" height="4" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <bR> <bR> <bR> <div> <I><B> <TABLE BORDER="2" CELLPADDING="2" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="559" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="BOX" RULES="ALL" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 54 ><NOBR><div> The Forgotten Spacemen (part 1)</div> </NOBR></tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP ROWSPAN=2><NOBR><div>  <img src="HTMLobj-160/aniGif.gif" border="0" align="bottom" width="66" height="80">  </div> </NOBR></tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 25 WIDTH="466"><div> <I><B>Author: Anthony R. Southwell</B></I></div> </tD> </tR> </TABLE></B></I></div> <bR> <div> The title of this article would seem to be a little cryptic. Forgotten spacemen? Who’s he talking about? We know the names of most of the astronauts! Well yes, I suppose you probably do. But they are the ones who actually flew missions, who became household names and in the case of Neil Armstrong, have their name remembered by all of humanity for a long time to come. No. I am talking about those astronauts who never flew, who never enjoyed the notoriety of a Shepard, a Glenn or even an Armstrong. So what happened to these astronauts? Why did they not fly in space? Well, they never flew a mission because they died before they had a chance to climb aboard a spacecraft.</div> <bR> <div> I thought it was high time that I actually wrote about these men. To at least bring them to the fore for a change, to remember them in some small way. This article was actually inspired by Jim Lovell’s book Lost Moon, this is an account of his experiences as the commander of Apollo 13. The book itself does not start with Apollo 13, it starts with the events surrounding the tragic Apollo 1 fire of January 27, 1967, in which astronauts Virgil I. Grissom, Edward H. White and Roger B. Chaffee perished. Lovell served on one of the investigating panels in the wake of the Apollo1 fire. But it was not the first time that Lovell had been involved in the investigation into the death of a fellow astronaut. In October 1964, Lovell was involved in the investigation into the death of astronaut Theodore Freeman.</div> <div> Now it was at this point when I suddenly shuddered and really took notice. “Who?” I said to nobody in particular. I did not recognise this astronaut, much to my embarrassment. I knew of Charles Bassett and Elliot See, who died in 1966. But Freeman was a complete blank to me. For someone who has prided himself on his knowledge of the NASA space programme, this was quite a shock. How many more astronauts died before they were even assigned to a mission, let alone fly one? I resolved to find out, so I dipped into cyberspace and found myself at NASA headquarters (if only that was true in the real world!). I went to the NASA History Office web pages and interrogated the astronaut biographies and struck gold. There were a few names there that I did not recognise and some that I was already familiar with. In all I found the names of seven astronauts who met my particular search parameters. I have included Roger Chaffee in the list too, even though he is the most widely known of the group, Chaffee qualifies because at the time of Apollo 1, he had yet to fly a space mission.</div> <bR> <div> <TABLE BORDER="2" CELLPADDING="2" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="605" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="BOX" RULES="ALL" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 175 WIDTH="593"><div> Seven men who died before they could participate in humankind’s greatest adventure, to fly into space and to look back upon the face of the home world. I hope that you do not think that this article is a little morbid. But I really do feel that I should write about these seven men, if only briefly, so as to give them some kind of recognition. Even though they did not manage to fly in space, they were all, to a man, astronauts and explorers, just as much as their peers who actually flew into space, and it is to these men that I offer my respect and undying admiration.</div> </tD> </tR> </TABLE></div> <bR> <div> <I><B><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Wing0a7300a8014099003300.gif" HEIGHT="21" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">Charles M. Bassett, II  (Captain)</B></I></div> <bR> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> <IMG SRC="09d96cc0.gif" border=0 width="150" height="204" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <bR> <div> Charles M. Bassett was born on December 30, 1931, in Dayton, Ohio. He attended Ohio State University and Texas Technological College, and graduated with honours with a Bachelor of Science degree in electrical engineering. Bassett was a member of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics. Bassett who was a U.S. Air Force Captain, was a graduate of the Air Force Experimental Pilot School and the Aerospace Research Pilot School. He served as an experimental test pilot and engineering test pilot in the Fighter Projects Office at Edwards Air Force Base, California. Bassett logged over 3,600 hours flying time, including over 2,900 hours in jet aircraft. He was selected as part of the third group of astronauts named by NASA in October 1963. In addition to his astronaut training, Bassett was given specific responsibilities pertaining to training and simulators. On November 8, 1965, Bassett, along with Elliot See, were named as the crew for Gemini 9. Bassett was named as the pilot for the mission.</div> <div> On February 28, 1966, Bassett and Elliot See were killed when they were attempting to land their T-38 aircraft to an instrument landing approach. They were on their way to the McDonnell Douglas Aircraft Corporation’s facility in St. Louis, Missouri, to inspect their Gemini 9 spacecraft. When they reached the facility, the runway there was covered by fog. So Bassett and See instigated a landing via instruments only. They flew over the plant once and come in to land on the second pass. Their T-38 clipped the roof of the building, which housed their spacecraft, and smashed into a car park nearby and exploded. Both Bassett and See were killed instantly. Bassett was married with two children.</div> <bR> <div> <I><B><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Wing0a7300a8014099003300.gif" HEIGHT="21" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">Roger B. Chaffee  (Lieutenant Commander, U.S. Navy)</B></I></div> <bR> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> <IMG SRC="09c80b10.gif" border=0 width="128" height="177" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <bR> <div> Roger Chaffee was born on February 15, 1935, in Grand Rapids, Michigan. He graduated from Central High School, Grand Rapids, Michigan, and went on to receive a Bachelor of Science degree in Aeronautical Engineering from Purdue University in 1957. Chaffee entered the U.S. Navy in 1957. He served as safety officer and quality control officer for Heavy Photographic Squadron 62 at the Naval Air Station in Jacksonville, Florida. He logged more than 2,300 hours of flying time, including more than 2,300 hours in jet aircraft. Chaffee was awarded the Navy Air Medal. One interesting facts concerning Chaffee was that he was one of the pilots who took reconnaissance pictures of Cuba during the 1962 missile crisis. It was his pictures that proved beyond a shadow of a doubt that Soviet missiles were on Cuban soil. In January 1963, Chaffee entered the Air Force Institute of Technology at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, to begin work on a Master of Science degree in reliability engineering. Chaffee then went on to NASA in October 1963 as one of the third group of NASA astronauts. After a brief period of working on various projects and his astronaut training, Chaffee was then selected as a crewmember for the first manned flight of an Apollo spacecraft, Apollo 204 (later to be known as Apollo 1). Chaffee was to die aboard the Apollo 1 spacecraft, along with fellow astronauts Virgil I. “Gus” Grissom and Edward H. White, when a spark ignited the high pressure, pure oxygen environment of the Apollo 1 command module. The Apollo 1 crew died from asphyxiation and were not burned to death as some commentators at the time had eluded to. The accident occurred while the Apollo 1 crew was conducting a simulated countdown and launch. They died on the launch pad and not in space. Chaffee was married with two children.</div> <bR> <div> <I><B><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Wing0a7300a8014099003300.gif" HEIGHT="21" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">Theodore C. Freeman  (Captain, U.S. Air Force)</B></I></div> <bR> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> <IMG SRC="09b87ab0.gif" border=0 width="135" height="171" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <bR> <div> Theodore Freeman was born in Haverford, Pennsylvania, on February 18, 1930. Freeman completed his secondary education in 1948 in Lewes, Delaware. Freemen went on to attend the University of Delaware at Newark for one year, then entered the United States Naval Academy and graduated in 1953, with a Bachelor of Science degree. He elected to serve with the Air Force. In 1960, he received a Master of Science degree in aeronautical engineering from the University of Michigan.</div> <div> Freeman’s last Air Force assignment was as a flight test aeronautical engineer and experimental flight test instructor, at the Air Force’s Aerospace Research Pilot School at Edwards AFB, California. He served primarily in performance flight testing and stability testing areas. Freeman had logged more than 3,000 hours flying time, including more than 2,000 hours in jet aircraft. Freeman was a member of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics. Captain Freeman was killed in a plane crash October 31, 1964, he was married, no children.</div> <bR> <div> The acknowledgements and second part of this article will be published in the next issue of Aries.</div> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> </td> </tr></table></body>