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American astronaut (1930–1967)

Edward Higgins White II (November 14, 1930 – January 27, 1967) was an American aeronautical engineer, United States Air Force officer, test pilot, and NASA astronaut. He was a member of the crews of Gemini 4 and Apollo 1. 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, where he flew the F 86 Sabre and F 100 Super Sabre fighters. In 1958, he enrolled in the University of Michigan to study aeronautical engineering, receiving his Master of Science degree in 1959. 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, the so called "Next Nine", who were chosen to take part in the Gemini and Apollo missions. 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. He was awarded the NASA Distinguished Service Medal for his flight in Gemini 4 and was then awarded the Congressional Space Medal of Honor posthumously.

Edward Higgins White II was born on November 14, 1930, in San Antonio, Texas, and Mary Rosina White (; 1900–1983). He had a younger brother, James Blair White (1942–1969), He became a member of the Boy Scouts of America, where he earned the rank of Second Class Scout. Due to the nature of his father's job, White's family moved often to different military bases across the country throughout his childhood. The White family moved from San Antonio, Texas to Dayton, Ohio, where he attended Oakwood Junior High School, and to Washington, D. C., where he attended Western High School. White was also a half back on the West Point soccer team. His hobbies included squash, handball, swimming, golf, and photography. White received his initial pilot training at Bartow Air Base, Florida, and his jet training at James Connally Air Force Base, Texas. After receiving his pilot wings in 1953, White was assigned to Luke Air Force Base, Arizona, for Fighter Gunnery School. In February 1953, White married Patricia Eileen Finegan (1934–1983), whom he had met at a West Point football game. They had two children, Edward Higgins White III (born in 1953) and Bonnie Lynn White (born in 1956). White was assigned to the 22nd Fighter Squadron at Bitburg Air Base in West Germany, where he spent three and a half years flying North American F 86 Sabre and North American F 100 Super Sabre fighters. Among his colleagues were Buzz Aldrin, who graduated a year ahead of him at West Point, and James Salter. In 1957, White read an article about the astronauts of the future, and decided to become one. He believed that getting an advanced degree would improve his chances of being selected. After it became clear that being a test pilot would also improve his chances of being selected to become an astronaut, White attended the U. S. Air Force Test Pilot School at Edwards Air Force Base, California, with class 59 C, which graduated in July 1959. McDivitt was one of his classmates. White was assigned to the Aeronautical Systems Division at Wright Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio. There, he did flight tests for weapons development, and helped make recommendations for aircraft design on aircraft such as the Fairchild C 123 Provider, Convair C 131 Samaritan, Boeing C 135 Stratolifter, the North American F 100 Super Sabre, Convair F 102 Delta Dagger and Lockheed T 33 Shooting Star. As a weightlessness and extended flight training captain, he piloted the planes that were used to train astronauts in weightlessness. His passengers included John Glenn, the first American to orbit the Earth, and Ham, the first hominid in space. Their selection was announced at a press conference in Cullen Auditorium at the University of Houston on September 17, 1962. Like their predecessors, the Mercury Seven, each of the new astronauts was assigned an area of specialization within the crewed space program: in White's case, flight control systems.

White was selected to be the pilot of Gemini 4, with McDivitt as his command pilot. The Chief of the Astronaut Office, Mercury Seven astronaut Deke Slayton, paired them because they knew each other well, having attended the University of Michigan and test pilot school together. The mission objectives were ill defined at first, but consideration was given to performing extravehicular activity (EVA), space rendezvous and orbital station keeping. Knowing that EVA (or spacewalk) was a possibility, McDivitt pressed for it to be included in the mission. As a result, NASA management agreed to ensure that the Gemini space suit for the mission was capable of being used for EVA. Kenneth S. Kleinknecht told the July 1964 press conference that announced the mission that one of the crew might open the hatch and stick his head outside, but this attracted little attention. On March 18, 1965, cosmonaut Alexei Leonov became the first man to perform an EVA, on the Voskhod 2 mission, but not until May 25 was EVA approved for Gemini 4 by NASA administrator James E. Webb. White was a devout Methodist. On the Gemini 4 mission he carried three pieces of religious jewelry to take with him on his EVA: a gold cross, a St. Christopher Medal and a Star of David. White commented: "I felt while I couldn't take one for every religion in the country, I could take the items most familiar to me." 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. The mission also included 11 different scientific experiments, including the use of a sextant for celestial navigation. 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 an EVA. 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 White 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. 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. When they returned to Earth, the two astronauts found that they were now celebrities. President Lyndon B. Johnson came to Houston to congratulate them, and he promoted them to the rank of lieutenant colonel. Later that week they traveled to the White House where Johnson presented them the NASA Exceptional Service Medal. They were given a ticker tape parade in Chicago, and went to the 1965 Paris Air Show, where they met cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin. White's next assignment after Gemini 4 was as the backup for Gemini 7 command pilot Frank Borman, with Michael Collins assigned as his pilot. He was also named the astronaut specialist for the flight control systems of the Apollo command module. Under 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. Instead, he was selected for the Apollo 1 spaceflight.

In March 1966, White was selected as senior pilot (second seat) for the first crewed Apollo flight, designated AS 204. His fellow astronauts would be Command Pilot Virgil "Gus" Grissom, who had flown in space on the Mercury Redstone 4 mission in 1961 and as commander of the Gemini 3 in 1965, and Pilot Roger Chaffee, who had yet to fly into space. The launch of Apollo 1 was planned for February 21, 1967. The crew entered the spacecraft at 13:00 on January 27, mounted atop its Saturn IB booster on Launch Pad 34 at Cape Kennedy, for a "plugs out" test of the spacecraft. Grissom was unable to reach the cabin vent control to his left, where the fire's source was located. The intense heat raised the cabin pressure even more, to , at which point the cabin walls ruptured. The astronauts were killed by asphyxiation, smoke inhalation, and thermal burns.

Edward White Hospital in St. Petersburg, Florida (closed in 2014). Edward H. White II Park in Fullerton, California. Fullerton has also named parks in honor of Chaffee and Grissom. Island White, an artificial island in Long Beach Harbor off Southern California. Edward H. White Hall was a dormitory at Sheppard Air Force Base in Wichita Falls, Texas. McDivitt White Plaza is located outside West Hall at the University of Michigan. West Hall formerly housed the College of Engineering and counts James McDivitt and Ed White among its alumni (McDivitt earned his B. S. and White earned his M. S. at the University of Michigan). The dismantled Launch Pad 34 at Cape Canaveral bears two memorial plaques. One reads, "They gave their lives in service to their country in the ongoing exploration of humankind's final frontier. Remember them not for how they died but for those ideals for which they lived." and the other "In memory of those who made the ultimate sacrifice so others could reach for the stars. Ad astra per aspera, (a rough road leads to the stars). God speed to the crew of Apollo 1." Edward White Park in Garland, Texas. Edward White Way in Oakland, California, a service road which runs along the Southern edge of Oakland International Airport. The airport has multiple roads named after NASA astronauts.

The star Iota Ursae Majoris was nicknamed "Dnoces" ("Second", as in "Edward Higgins White the Second", spelled backwards). White Hill, 11.2 km (7.0 mi) northwest of Columbia Memorial Station on Mars, is a part of the Apollo 1 Hills. A photograph of White performing his Gemini 4 space walk is included as one of several images on the Voyager Golden Record.

Eight months after his death, in September 1967, a postage stamp was issued by the United States Post Office, commemorating White's spacewalk. It was the first time in USPO history that the design was actually spread over two stamps (one which featured White, the other his Gemini capsule, the two connected by a tether), which was considered befitting the "twins" aspect of the Gemini mission.

White was played by Steven Ruge in the 1995 film Apollo 13, by Chris Isaak in the 1998 HBO miniseries From the Earth to the Moon, and by Matt Lanter in the 2015 ABC TV series The Astronaut Wives Club. In 2018, he was portrayed by Jason Clarke in First Man.