Theodore Freeman

Theodore Freeman
Country:	United States
Organization:	NASA
selected on	October 18, 1963 (3rd NASA Group)
retired on	October 31, 1964

Theodore Cordy Freeman (born February 18, 1930 in Haverford Pennsylvania , † October 31, 1964 , at Ellington Air Force Base , Houston , Texas ) was an American astronaut and captain of the US Air Force . He was killed when a T-38 Talon crashed .

Freeman finished his secondary education in 1948. He then attended the University of Delaware at Newark for a year before enrolling at the US Naval Academy . He graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in 1953 . In 1960 he graduated from the University of Michigan as an aerospace engineer and received the title Master of Science. Freeman was a member of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics as well as the Society of Experimental Test Pilots founded for this purpose.

He joined the US Air Force and passed all training courses. He stayed with the US Air Force , where he ultimately served as a flight instructor at the specially established school for air force pilots, Edwards Air Force Base in the Mojave Desert .

Primarily, however, he still performed his duties as a test pilot and therefore mostly stayed for longer periods at the various air force bases. He achieved over 3,300 flight hours - over 2,400 of them on jet planes . So Freeman was selected with the 3rd NASA astronaut selection group in October 1963.

On October 31, 1964, Theodore Freeman died in an aircraft accident with his T-38 Talon jet aircraft. A goose hit the cockpit window during the approach . The plexiglass fragments got caught in the engines , which shut down immediately. Freeman was still able to deploy the ejection seat , but the machine was too low for the parachute to open properly . He did not survive the violent impact.

Freeman left behind his wife and daughter. He was the first US astronaut to die on duty. His name can also be found on the metal plate of the Fallen Astronaut , the only work of art on the moon.

Web links

• Theodore Freeman in the Encyclopedia Astronautica (English)