Charlie Bassett | |
|---|---|
 Bassett in 1964 | |
| Born | Charles Arthur Bassett II (1931-12-30)December 30, 1931 Dayton, Ohio, U.S. |
| Died | February 28, 1966(1966-02-28) (aged 34) |
| Resting place | Arlington National Cemetery |
| Education | Ohio State University Texas Tech University (BS) University of Southern California |
| Space career | |
| NASA astronaut | |
| Rank | Major,USAF |
| Selection | NASA Group 3 (1963) |
| Signature | |
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Charles Arthur Bassett II (December 30, 1931 – February 28, 1966) (Major,USAF) was an Americanelectrical engineer andUnited States Air Forcetest pilot. He went toOhio State University for two years and later graduated fromTexas Tech University with aBachelor of Science degree inElectrical Engineering. He joined the Air Force as apilot and graduated from both theAir Force's Experimental Test Pilot School and theAerospace Research Pilot School. Bassett was married and had two children.
He was selected as aNASAastronaut in 1963 and was assigned toGemini 9. He died inan airplane crash during training for his first spaceflight. He is memorialized on theSpace Mirror Memorial;The Astronaut Monument; and theFallen Astronaut memorial plaque, which was placed on the Moon during theApollo 15 mission.
Bassett was born on December 30, 1931, inDayton, Ohio, to Charles Arthur "Pete" Bassett (1897–1957) and Fannie Belle Milby Bassett (née James; 1907–1993).[1] Bassett was active in theBoy Scouts of America, where he achieved its second-highest rank,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 hisprivate pilot license at age seventeen.[3]
After graduating fromBerea High School, inBerea, in 1950, he attendedOhio State University, inColumbus, from 1950 to 1952. Midway through college in 1952, Bassett enrolled inAir Force ROTC; he entered the U.S. Air Force as anaviation cadet in October of that year.[1] He attended Texas Technological College, nowTexas Tech University, from 1958 to 1960. He received aBachelor of Science degree with honors inelectrical engineering from Texas Tech and did graduate work atUniversity of Southern California (USC) inLos Angeles.[4]
He started his career with training atStallings Air Base,North Carolina, andBryan Air Force Base,Texas. Bassett graduated from Bryan in December 1953 and was commissioned in the Air Force. He arrived for additional training inNellis Air Force Base,Nevada, as asecond lieutenant.[1] There, he flew trainer aircraft, such as theT-6, theT-28, and theT-33, and flew the jet fighterF-86 Sabre in 1954.[5]
He went toKorea with the8th Fighter Bomber Group and flew a F-86 Sabre. Bassett was too late to fly anycombat missions, and said, "If you don't have any challenge, you never know how good you are."[6] Bassett was promoted tofirst lieutenant in May 1955.[6] He returned from Korea in 1955 and was assigned toSuffolk County Air Force Base, in New York, flying aircraft such as the F-86D, theF-102, and theC-119.[7]
In November 1960, Bassett went toMaxwell Air Force Base, inAlabama, to attendSquadron Officer School. He also graduated from theAir Force Experimental Test Pilot School (Class 62A) and theAerospace Research Pilot School (Class III) and was promoted tocaptain.[8] Bassett was an experimentaltest pilot and engineering test pilot in the Fighter Projects Office atEdwards Air Force Base,California, and logged over 3,600 hours of flying time, including over 2,900 hours in ajet aircraft.[4]
Bassett was one ofNASA'sthird group of astronauts, named in October 1963.[9] In addition to participating in the overall astronaut training program, he had specific responsibilities related to training and simulators. On November 8, 1965, he was selected as pilot of theGemini 9 mission withElliot See as command pilot.[4] Bassett was scheduled to make an untethered ninety-minutespacewalk,[10] which was undertaken byGene Cernan on Gemini 9A.
According to chief astronautDeke Slayton's autobiography, he chose Bassett for Gemini 9 because he was "strong enough to carry" both himself and See. Slayton had also assigned Bassett ascommand module pilot for the second backupApollo crew, alongsideFrank Borman andWilliam Anders.[11]
On June 22, 1955, Bassett married Jeannie Martin.[12] They had two children.[4][13][14]
Bassett and Elliot See died on February 28, 1966, when theirT-38 trainer jet, piloted by See, crashed intoMcDonnell Aircraft Building 101, known as the McDonnell Space Center, 1,000 feet (300 m) fromLambert Field airport inSt. 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 fromtrauma 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 inArlington National Cemetery on Friday, March 4.[17][18][19] During funeral services in Texas two days earlier, astronautsJim McDivitt andJim Lovell and civilian pilot Jere Cobb flew themissing man formation in Bassett's honor, whileBuzz Aldrin,Bill Anders, andWalter Cunningham did the same to honor See.[20][21][22]
A NASA investigative panel later concluded thatpilot 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]
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Bassett is honored at theKennedy Space Center Visitor Center'sSpace Mirror Memorial, alongside 24 other NASA astronauts who died in the pursuit of space exploration.[24]
His name also appears on theFallen Astronaut memorial plaque atHadley Rille on theMoon, placed by theApollo 15 mission in 1971.[25] Texas Tech University dedicated an Electrical Engineering Research Laboratory building in Bassett's honor in November 1996.[26]
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