I Wish I Could See You Smile Again, Neil

January 27th, 1967 – 1 p.m.

The New Nine, together again.

Col. Edward H White

After he became the first American to walk in space in June 3, 1965, astronaut Ed White received a deluge of fan letters. Because of the similarity of their names, some of the letters were addressed to Ed Dwight, a USAF test pilot Captain, and the first African-American to complete USAF’s astronaut training programme, Although he was not selected for NASA’s astronaut group in 1963, it was obvious by the amount of mail addressed to him that many thought he had. Ed White gathered all the letters (two boxes) addressed to Ed Dwight and delivered them personally. Seeing the amount of fan mail Capt. Dwight received, Ed White remarked, “Now I understand how important it is for you to go into space”.  (Chasing the Moon, 2019, Robert Stone and Alan Andres).

After astronaut Elliot See’s death in February 28, 1966, Ed White and his family made several visits to the See family. On one such visit, Ed “climbed up the huge pine tree” at the back of their house to hang a rope swing for See’s children to play with. It was - See’s oldest daughter Carrie recalled - “something a father would do for his children.” (Fallen Astronauts, 2003, Colin Burgess)

In April 1964, a fire broke out at Neil and Janet Armstrong’s home. Their neighbour Ed White came rushing in with a water hose. Janet later recalled seeing him bound their six foot fence to get to them. Ed then helped rescue the Armstrong children and property until the arrival of the fire services. (First Man. 2005, James Hansen).

In January 27, 1967 the crew of Gus Grissom, Ed White and Roger Chaffee participated in a plugs out test while strapped inside the command module of Apollo 1. Hours into the test, fire broke out inside the capsule. Within minutes, the astronauts, unable to escape, succumbed. When their bodies were found, it was determined that Ed White had tried to open the command module’s hatch before he was overwhelmed by toxic gasses and thermal burns. Ed White was 36 years old and he left behind his wife, Pat, and children, Bonnie and Eddie.

“Gus helped me, to no end, backing me up in Gemini as I backed him up in Gemini. We worked very closely on the Apollo flight. I was his next door neighbor and then I had to be the executor of his will. He was a very close friend to all of us.” -Wally Schirra

“I remember being impressed with Gus as an individual and as a pilot… Gus was willing to join the group and he pulled his weight in the boat. He was considered a great pilot, enthusiastic and competitive like the rest of us. I guess the thing I’ll remember the most about Gus was the sacrifice he made for the program… The human element and frailties come to the surface and we have a tragic combination of things, which took the life of our buddy.” -Alan Shepard

“I agree with everything everybody said about Gus. He was a good friend to all of us… Gus unfortunately had to sacrifice his life for one of those human errors that let us then step ahead to another level.” -John Glenn

“We’re kind of like a bunch of brothers. We’re quite close.” -Gordo Cooper

“Gus didn’t say a lot, but when he did speak, it was worth listening to… I think we all take the same chances. But we’re all subject to human frailty, if not our own, that of others… It was dangerous but it hadn’t hurt us so we kept doing it. That was dead wrong and it took that tragedy to make it safe. So complacency causes great difficulty, but the end result is that it leads to progress.” -Scott Carpenter

“We miss him.” -Deke Slayton

you had me at the first line

Someone is getting ready to take those nice “first American spacewalk” pictures. 

Eight days into Gemini 7 and Chill and he gives you this look

Gagarin

Since I was out of town and couldn’t make a post on the 2nd, here’s a happy belated birthday to Charles “Pete” Conrad, Jr. (June 2, 1930 – July 8, 1999), one of my absolute favorite people in the entire world. Pete was a brilliant engineer, a naval aviator, test pilot, part of the second group of NASA astronauts, and the third human to walk on the moon.

He worked harder than most people can imagine to overcome the obstacles that stood in the way of his dreams, though you’d hardly notice because he did it all with a gap-toothed smile. I’ll never forget the sound of him laughing all the way into orbit during Apollo 12. I still miss him like hell and I wish I had had the chance to tell him in person that he’s my hero, but I take comfort in the fact that Petey had more fun in his short 69 years than most people could have in 100.

Happy birthday, Tweety. Love ya more than you know.