Deceased Astronaut Biographies - Learn More About Deceased Astronauts

Virgil I. Grissom (Lieutenant Colonel, USAF) was born April 3, 1926, in Mitchell., Indiana. Died January 27, 1967, at NASA Kennedy Space Center, Florida, in the Apollo spacecraft fire. He is survived by his wife Betty and their two children.

Charles A. Bassett, II (Captain) was born in Dayton, Ohio, on December 30, 1931. Died February 28, 1966, in St. Louis, Missouri, in the crash of a T-38 jet. He is survived by his wife, Jean, and two children.

Clifton C. Williams, Jr. (Major, USMC) was born September 26, 1932, in Mobile, Alabama. Died on October 5, 1967, near Tallahassee, Florida, in the crash of a T-38 jet. He is survived by his wife Jane and a daughter.

Manley Lanier "Sonny" Carter, Jr. (Captain, USN) was born August 15, 1947, in Macon, Georgia, but considered Warner Robins, Georgia, to be his hometown. Died April 5, 1991. He is survived by his wife, Dana, and two daughters. He enjoyed wrestling, golf, tennis, L.A. Dodger baseball, and old movies. Carter was a professional soccer player from 1970-73 for the Atlanta Chiefs of the NASL.

Theodore C. Freeman (Captain, USAF) was born February 18, 1930, in Haverford, Pennsylvania. Died October 31, 1964, at Ellington Air Force Base, Houston, Texas, in the crash of a T-38 jet. Survived by his wife Faith and one daughter.

Edward Higgins White II, (Lt. Colonel, USAF) was born November 14, 1930, San Antonio, Texas; died January 27, 1967, in the Apollo 204 fire at Cape Kennedy, Florida. Edward Higgins White II was the son of Edward Higgins White, Sr.

Roger B. Chaffee (Lieutenant Commander, USN) was born on February 15, 1935, in Grand Rapids, Michigan, where his parents, Mr. and Mrs. Donald L. Chaffee, reside. Roger Chaffee and fellow astronauts Gus Grissom and Ed White died on January 27, 1967, at Cape Kennedy, Florida, when a flash fire consumed their spacecraft during a full-scale simulation in preparation for the scheduled launch of their Saturn / Apollo mission.

Stephen D. Thorne was born February 11, 1953, in Frankfurt-on-Main, West Germany. Died May 24, 1986. Cdr Thorne is survived by his wife, Sue. He enjoyed baseball, running, reading, and general aviation. Graduated from T.L. Hanna High School, Anderson, South Carolina, in 1971; received a bachelor of science degree in systems engineering from the U.S. Naval Academy in 1975. Lieutenant Commander Thorne was killed in an aircraft accident, in which he was a passenger, on May 24, 1986.

The astronaut, Michael Adams was born in Sacramento, California on 5 May 1930. He enlisted in the U.S. Air Force in 1950 after graduation from Sacramento Junior College and earned his pilot wings and commission in 1952 at Webb AFB, Texas. Mike Adams was posthumously awarded Astronaut Wings for his last flight in the X-15, which had attained an altitude of 266,000 feet - 50.38 miles. In 1991 Adams' name was added to the Astronaut Memorial at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

In June l967, Robert Henry Lawrence, Jr. was named the first African-American astronaut, though he never made it into space. Several months later, on December 8, Lawrence died when his F-104 Starfighter jet, in which he was a co-pilot/passenger during a training flight, crashed at Edwards Air Force Base, California.

Born August 15, 1947, in Macon, Georgia, but considered Warner Robins, Georgia, to be his hometown. Died April 5, 1991. He is survived by his wife, Dana, and two daughters. He enjoyed wrestling, golf, tennis, L.A. Dodger baseball, and old movies. Carter was a professional soccer player from 1970-73 for the Atlanta Chiefs of the NASL.

Born in Dayton, Ohio, on December 30, 1931. Died February 28, 1966, in St. Louis, Missouri, in the crash of a T-38 jet. He is survived by his wife, Jean, and two children.

The astronaut, Michael Adams was born in Sacramento, California on 5 May 1930. He was posthumously awarded Astronaut Wings for his last flight in the X-15, which had attained an altitude of 266,000 feet - 50.38 miles. In 1991 Adams' name was added to the Astronaut Memorial at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

Selection Year: 1996 Group: 16 Status: Shuttle Mission Specialist

Selection Year: 1995 Group: 15 Status: Shuttle Mission Specialist

Selection Year:1995Group:15Status:Shuttle Mission Specialist

Selection Year:1996Group:16Status:Shuttle Mission Specialist

Status:Payload Specialist

Selection Year:1995Group:15Status:Shuttle Commander

Selection Year:1996Group:16Status:Shuttle Pilot