Edward Higgins White II was an American aeronautical engineer, U.S. Air Force officer, test pilot, and NASA astronaut. On June 3, 1965, he became the first American to walk in space. White died along with astronauts Virgil "Gus" Grissom and Roger B. Chaffee during prelaunch testing for the first manned Apollo mission at Cape Canaveral. He was awarded the NASA Distinguished Service Medal for his flight in Gemini 4 and was then awarded the Congressional Space Medal of Honor posthumously.

Titan II GLV | Gemini IV

National Aeronautics and Space Administration | United States of America
Cape Canaveral, FL, USA
June 3, 1965, 3:16 p.m.

Status: Success

Mission:

Gemini 4 was the second crewed mission of the NASA's Project Gemini. The mission was commanded by Command Pilot James A. McDivitt and Pilot Edward H. White II. On the mission, White became the first American to perform a spacewalk. The mission began on June 3, 1965, 15:15:59 UTC and ended on June 7, 1965, 17:12:11 UTC.

Low Earth Orbit

---

Explore Share

Saturn IB | Apollo 1 (Failure before launch)

National Aeronautics and Space Administration | United States of America
Cape Canaveral, FL, USA
Jan. 27, 1967, 11:31 p.m.

Status: Failure

Mission:

Apollo 1, initially designated AS-204, was the first crewed mission of the United States Apollo program, the undertaking to land the first man on the Moon. It was planned to launch on February 21, 1967, as the first low Earth orbital test of the Apollo command and service module. The mission never flew; a cabin fire during a launch rehearsal test at Cape Kennedy Air Force Station Launch Complex 34 on January 27 killed all three crew members—Command Pilot Gus Grissom, Senior Pilot Ed White, and Pilot Roger B. Chaffee—and destroyed the command module (CM). The name Apollo 1, chosen by the crew, was made official by NASA in their honor after the fire.

Low Earth Orbit

---

Explore Share