page_title: Ed White (astronaut)
section_title: Gemini 4
hierarchical_section_title: Ed White (astronaut) / NASA career / Gemini program / Gemini 4
caption_attribution_description: English: S65-29655 (7 May 1965) --- Astronauts James A. McDivitt (left) and Edward H. White II, Gemini-4 prime crew, are shown looking over training plans at Cape Kennedy during prelaunch preparations. The NASA Headquarters alternative photo number is 65-H-275.
context_page_description: Edward Higgins "Ed" White II was an American aeronautical engineer, U.S. Air Force officer, test pilot, and NASA astronaut.
  After graduating from West Point in 1952 with a Bachelor of Science degree, White was sent to flight training, and assigned to the 22nd Fighter Day Squadron at Bitburg Air Base, West Germany. There, he flew in F-86 Sabre and F-100 Super Sabre squadrons. In 1958, he enrolled in the University of Michigan to study aeronautical engineering. White then received test pilot training at Edwards Air Force Base, California, before being assigned as a test pilot for the Aeronautical Systems Division at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio.
  White was selected as one of the second group of astronauts. He was assigned as pilot of Gemini 4 alongside command pilot James McDivitt. On June 3, 1965, White became the first American to walk in space. He was then assigned as senior pilot of the first crewed Apollo mission, Apollo 1. White died on January 27, 1967, alongside astronauts Virgil "Gus" Grissom and Roger B. Chaffee in a fire during pre-launch testing for Apollo 1 at Cape Canaveral, Florida.
context_section_description: White was one of nine men chosen as part of the second group of astronauts in 1962. Within an already elite group, White was considered to be skilled by the management of NASA. He was selected to be Pilot of Gemini 4, serving alongside Command Pilot James McDivitt.
  On June 3, 1965, the Gemini 4 crew was launched into space to begin its four-day mission. After separation from the Titan II upper stage, McDivitt attempted to rendezvous with the booster. However, this was unsuccessful since the astronauts were not adequately trained to rendezvous in orbit. The objective had to be abandoned since the allocated propellant had been used up, and the maneuvers had pushed the spacecraft's orbit too far away from Earth.
  After the failed rendezvous attempt, White appeared tired and hot, so the EVA was postponed from the second revolution to the third revolution. At 19:46 UTC, White became the first American to make a walk in space. During his spacewalk, White used an oxygen propelled gun called the Hand-Held Maneuvering Unit to propel himself. White found the experience so exhilarating that he was reluctant to terminate the EVA at the allotted time, and had to be ordered back into the spacecraft. While he was outside, a spare thermal glove floated away through the open hatch of the spacecraft, becoming an early piece of space debris in low Earth orbit, until it burned up upon re-entry into the Earth's atmosphere. There was a mechanical problem with the hatch mechanism, which made it difficult to open and to relatch. Luckily, McDivitt was able to get the door locked by using his glove to push on the gears that controlled the mechanism. This added to the time constraint of the spacewalk and could have threatened the lives of both men if McDivitt had been unable to get the hatch latched, as they could not re-enter the atmosphere with an unsealed hatch.
  I'm coming back in... and it's the saddest moment of my life.
  — Astronaut Edward H. White while reentering the spacecraft after his EVA, 
  The mission also included 11 different scientific experiments, including the use of a sextant for celestial navigation.
  White's next assignment after Gemini 4 was as the backup for Gemini 7 Command Pilot Frank Borman. He was also named the astronaut specialist for the flight control systems of the Apollo Command/Service Module. By the usual procedure of crew rotation in the Gemini program, White would have been in line for a second flight as the command pilot of Gemini 10 in July 1966, which would have made him the first of his group to fly twice.
caption: Edward White with Jim McDivitt (left) reading training plans for Gemini 4 mission
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