Charles Bassett went to Ohio State University for two years and later graduated from Texas Tech University with a Bachelor of Science degree in Electrical Engineering.
22 Facts About Charles Bassett
2.
Charles Bassett joined the Air Force as a pilot and graduated from both the Air Force's Experimental Test Pilot School and the Aerospace Research Pilot School.
3.
Charles Bassett was selected as a NASA astronaut in 1963 and was assigned to Gemini 9.
4.
Charles Bassett died in an airplane crash during training for his first spaceflight.
5.
Charles Bassett is memorialized on the Space Mirror Memorial; The Astronaut Monument; and the Fallen Astronaut memorial plaque, which was placed on the Moon during the Apollo 15 mission.
6.
Charles Bassett belonged to a club that built gasoline-powered models and flew them in the school gym.
7.
Charles Bassett worked odd jobs at the airport to earn money for flying lessons and earned his private pilot license at age seventeen.
8.
Midway through college in 1952, Charles Bassett enrolled in Air Force ROTC; he entered the US Air Force as an aviation cadet in October of that year.
9.
Charles Bassett attended Texas Technological College, now Texas Tech University, from 1958 to 1960.
10.
Charles Bassett received a Bachelor of Science degree with honors in electrical engineering from Texas Tech and did graduate work at University of Southern California in Los Angeles.
11.
Charles Bassett started his career with training at Stallings Air Base, North Carolina, and Bryan Air Force Base, Texas.
12.
Charles Bassett graduated from Bryan in December 1953 and was commissioned in the Air Force.
13.
Charles Bassett arrived for additional training in Nellis Air Force Base, Nevada, as a second lieutenant.
14.
Charles Bassett went to Korea with the 8th Fighter Bomber Group and flew a F-86 Sabre.
15.
Charles Bassett returned from Korea in 1955 and was assigned to Suffolk County Air Force Base, in New York, flying aircraft such as the F-86D, the F-102, and the C-119.
16.
In November 1960, Charles Bassett went to Maxwell Air Force Base, in Alabama, to attend Squadron Officer School.
17.
Charles Bassett graduated from the Air Force Experimental Test Pilot School and the Aerospace Research Pilot School and was promoted to captain.
18.
Charles Bassett was an experimental test pilot and engineering test pilot in the Fighter Projects Office at Edwards Air Force Base, California, and logged over 3,600 hours of flying time, including over 2,900 hours in a jet aircraft.
19.
Charles Bassett was one of NASA's third group of astronauts, named in October 1963.
20.
Charles Bassett was decapitated, his head was found in the building's rafters.
21.
Charles 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.
22.
Charles Bassett's name appears on the Fallen Astronaut memorial plaque at Hadley Rille on the Moon, placed by the Apollo 15 mission in 1971.