Charles Bassett

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This article is about the American astronaut. For other people named Charles Bassett, see Charles Bassett (disambiguation).
Charlie Bassett
NASA astronaut
RankMajor, USAF
SelectionNASA Group 3 (1963)
Signature

Charles Arthur "Charlie" Bassett II (December 30, 1931 – February 28, 1966), (

Aerospace Research Pilot School
. Bassett was married and had two children.

He was selected as a

Gemini 9. He died in an airplane crash during training for his first spaceflight. He is memorialized on the Space Mirror Memorial; The Astronaut Monument; and the Fallen Astronaut memorial plaque, which was placed on the Moon during the Apollo 15
mission.

Early life and education

Bassett was born on December 30, 1931, in

Life Scout.[2] During high school, Bassett was a model plane aficionado. He belonged to a club that built gasoline-powered models and flew them in the school gym. Bassett's interest in model airplanes translated to real aircraft; he made his first solo flight at age 16. He worked odd jobs at the airport to earn money for flying lessons and earned his private pilot license at age seventeen.[3]

After graduating from

aviation cadet in October of that year.[1] He attended Texas Technological College, now Texas Tech University, from 1958 to 1960. He received a Bachelor of Science degree with honors in electrical engineering from Texas Tech and did graduate work at University of Southern California (USC) in Los Angeles.[4]

Military service

Tommie Benefield, Charlie Bassett, Greg Neubeck and Mike Collins. Back row: Al Atwell, Neil Garland, Jim Roman, Al Uhalt and Joe Engle
.

He started his career with training at

T-33, and flew the jet fighter F-86 Sabre in 1954.[5]

He went to

C-119.[7]

In November 1960, Bassett went to

Aerospace Research Pilot School (Class III) and was promoted to captain.[8] Bassett was an experimental test pilot and engineering test pilot in the Fighter Projects Office at Edwards Air Force Base, California, and logged over 3,600 hours of flying time, including over 2,900 hours in a jet aircraft.[4]

NASA career

Bassett was one of

Gemini 9 mission with Elliot See as command pilot.[4] Bassett was scheduled to make an untethered ninety-minute spacewalk,[10] which was undertaken by Gene Cernan
on Gemini 9A.

According to chief astronaut

command module pilot for the second backup Apollo crew, alongside Frank Borman and William Anders.[11]

Personal life

On June 22, 1955, Bassett married Jeannie Martin.[12] They had two children.[4][13][14]

Death

Main article: 1966 NASA T-38 crash
Elliot See and Charles Bassett

Bassett and Elliot See died on February 28, 1966, when their

Lambert Field airport in St. Louis, Missouri.[13][15] Building 101 was where the Gemini spacecraft was built, and the two astronauts were going there that Monday morning to train for two weeks in a simulator. They died within five hundred feet (150 m) of their spacecraft.[16]

Both astronauts died instantly from

trauma
sustained in the crash. See was thrown clear of the cockpit and was found in the parking lot still strapped to his ejection seat with the parachute partially open. Bassett was decapitated on impact; his severed head was found later in the day in the rafters of the damaged assembly building.

Both men's remains were buried in

Bill Anders, and Walter Cunningham did the same to honor See.[20][21][22]

A NASA investigative panel later concluded that pilot error, caused by poor visibility due to bad weather, was the principal cause of the accident. The panel concluded that See was flying too low to the ground during his second approach, probably because of the poor visibility.[23]

Memorials

Bassett's name on the Space Mirror Memorial

Bassett is honored at the

Kennedy Space Center Visitor Center's Space Mirror Memorial, alongside 24 other NASA astronauts who died in the pursuit of space exploration.[24]

His name also appears on the Fallen Astronaut memorial plaque at Hadley Rille on the Moon, placed by the Apollo 15 mission in 1971.[25] Texas Tech University dedicated an Electrical Engineering Research Laboratory building in Bassett's honor in November 1996.[26]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c Burgess & Doolan 2003, p. 49.
  2. ^ "Astronauts and the BSA" (PDF). Boy Scouts of America. 2006. Archived from the original (PDF) on November 13, 2018. Retrieved March 24, 2019.
  3. ^ Burgess & Doolan 2003, pp. 50–51.
  4. ^ a b c d "Charles A. Bassett, II (Captain, USAF) NASA Astronaut (Deceased)" (PDF). NASA. March 1966. Retrieved January 9, 2021.
  5. ^ Burgess & Doolan 2003, pp. 49–50.
  6. ^ a b "Distinguished Engineer Citations". Texas Tech University. Retrieved December 13, 2016.
  7. ^ Burgess & Doolan 2003, p. 50.
  8. ^ Burgess & Doolan 2003, p. 56.
  9. ^ Burgess & Doolan 2003, p. 58.
  10. ^ "Next space walk to be Buck Rogers affair". Lewiston Morning Tribune. (Idaho). Associated Press. December 29, 1965. p. 5.
  11. ^ Slayton & Cassutt 1994, p. 167.
  12. ^ Burgess & Doolan 2003, pp. 52–55.
  13. ^ a b "2 astronauts killed as plane hits plant". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). Associated Press. February 28, 1966. p. 1A – via Google News.
  14. ^ Burgess & Doolan 2003, pp. 55–56.
  15. ^ "2 space men perish in jet". Chicago Tribune. March 1, 1966. p. 1 – via Newspapers.com.
  16. St. Louis, MO
    . Retrieved June 10, 2012.
  17. ^ "Taps sounded at Arlington". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). Associated Press. March 4, 1966. p. 5A.
  18. ^ "Space team is buried". Spokane Daily Chronicle. (Washington). Associated Press. March 4, 1966. p. 2.
  19. ^ "At funeral of fellow astronaut". Spokesman-Review. (Spokane, Washington). Associated Press (photo). March 5, 1966. p. 12.
  20. ^ "Astronauts are Bid Farewell in Texas". The Record. Hackensack, New Jersey. UPI. March 3, 1966. p. 37 – via Newspapers.com.
  21. ^ "Jet planes fly tribute at funeral". Spokane Daily Chronicle. (Washington). Associated Press. March 2, 1966. p. 2.
  22. ^ "3 fly T38s in tribute to astronaut". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). Associated Press. March 2, 1966. p. 3A.
  23. ^ "Accident Board Reports Findings in See-Bassett Crash" (PDF). Space News Roundup. NASA. June 10, 1966. Retrieved December 12, 2016.
  24. ^ Cole, Jeff; Lunner, Chet (January 28, 1988). "For Memorial Design Winner, Sky's the Limit". Florida Today. Cocoa, Florida. p. 2 – via Newspapers.com.
  25. ^ Eveleth, Rose (January 7, 2013). "There Is a Sculpture on the Moon Commemorating Fallen Astronauts". Smithsonian.com. Retrieved October 9, 2016.
  26. ^ Slyker, Karin (July 7, 2011). "Texas Tech Makes Its Mark on NASA". Texas Tech University. Archived from the original on August 18, 2022. Retrieved December 13, 2016.

Bibliography

External links

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