Edward H. White
ABOUT EDWARD H. WHITE
Engineer, U.S. Air Force officer, and NASA astronaut who became the first American to walk in space. He posthumously received the Congressional Space Medal of Honor.
He was among the nine people selected for NASA Astronaut Group 2 ("The New Nine") for Project Gemini.
He and astronauts Roger B. Chaffee and Virgil "Gus" Grissom perished in 1967 during the prelaunch testing for the first manned Apollo mission.
He married Patricia Finegan in 1953, with whom he fathered two children, Edward III and Bonnie Lynn.
He was portrayed in 1998's "From the Earth to the Moon" by Chris Isaak .
