Profile of the Day: Edward White

Edward White

On this day in 1965, Edward White became the first American to “walk” in space.

White was born on November 14, 1930 in San Antonio, Texas to Edward H. White, Sr., a Major General in the U.S. Air Force, and Mary Rosina Haller.

In 1962, he was one of nine men chosen as part of NASA’s Astronaut Group 2. Considered to be a high-flier in the elite group, White was chosen as pilot of Gemini 4 along with Command Pilot James McDivitt. In June 1965, the two astronauts began the tenth manned American spaceflight. During their mission, the astronauts circled the Earth 66 times in four days. On June 3, 1965, White became the first American to perform a spacewalk. He floated free outside the spacecraft for approximately 20 minutes and found the experience to be exhilarating. While reentering the spacecraft after his EVA, White stated “I’m coming back in…and it’s the saddest moment of my life.”

Sadly, White died in 1967 during a pre-launch test for the first manned Apollo mission at Cape Kennedy. In 1997, he was posthumously awarded the Congressional Space Medal of Honor.

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Image: NASA