Charles Bassett Charles Arthur " Charlie " Bassett II ( December 30 , 1931 – February 28 , 1966 ) was a United States Air Force test pilot . He was selected as a NASA astronaut in 1963 and assigned to " Gemini 9 " , but died in an airplane crash during training for his first spaceflight . Biography . Early life and education . Bassett was born in Dayton , Ohio , on December 30 , 1931 . He was active in the Boy Scouts of America , where he achieved its second highest rank , Life Scout . After graduating from Berea High School in Berea in 1950 , he attended Ohio State University from 1950 to 1952 , and Texas Technological College , now Texas Tech University , from 1958 to 1960 . He received a bachelor of science degree in electrical engineering with honors from Texas Tech ; he did graduate work at University of Southern California . He graduated from the Aerospace Research Pilot School and the Air Force Experimental Pilot School and became a Captain in the U . S . Air Force . He served as an experimental test pilot and engineering test pilot in the Fighter Projects Office at Edwards Air Force Base , California . He logged over 3 , 600 hours - flying time , including over 2 , 900 hours in a jet aircraft . NASA career . Bassett was one of the third group of astronauts named by NASA in October 1963 . In addition to participating in the overall astronaut training program , he had specific responsibilities pertaining to training and simulators . On November 8 , 1965 , he was selected as pilot of the " Gemini 9 " mission with Elliot See as command pilot . According to chief astronaut Deke 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 as command module pilot for the second backup Apollo crew , alongside Frank Borman and William Anders . Death . Bassett and See were killed on February 28 , 1966 , when their T - 38 trainer jet , piloted by See , crashed into McDonnell Aircraft Building 101 , known as the McDonnell Space Center , located from Lambert Field airport in St . Louis , Missouri . Building 101 was where the Gemini spacecraft was built , and they were going there to train for two weeks in a simulator . They died within of their spacecraft . Both men were buried in Arlington National Cemetery . 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 as a result of the poor visibility . Bassett was survived by his wife and two children . Organizations . Bassett was a member of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics , Phi Kappa Tau , Eta Kappa Nu , Tau Beta Pi and the Daedalians . Memorials . 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 . His name also appears on the Fallen Astronaut memorial plaque at Hadley Rille on the moon . Texas Tech University dedicated an electrical engineering research laboratory building in Bassett ' s honor in November 1996 . In attendance that day , in addition to university administrators and NASA officials , was fellow Texas Tech graduate and future NASA astronaut , commander Rick Husband ( who would himself die seven years later in the STS - 107 accident . ) A family - approved account of Bassett ' s life appears in the book " Fallen Astronauts " by Colin Burgess and Kate Doolan UNP 2003 . The crash is also mentioned in the 1998 HBO miniseries " From the Earth to the Moon " .