Bassett

Personal data:

Birthdate:  30 Dec 1931 Birthplace:  Dayton / Ohio Marital status:  married Children:  two Selection date:  17 Oct 1963 Selection group:  NASA-3 Job:  PLT Status:  deceased Date of death:  28 Feb 1966 Place of death:  St. Louis, Missouri, in the crash of a T-38 jet

Spaceflights:

The Gemini IX crews consisted of Elliot See (front left) and Charlie Bassett (front right) and their backups, Tom Stafford and Gene Cernan. Photo Credit: NASA

The remains of NASA 901, the T-38 jet which carried the Gemini IX prime crew of Elliot See and Charlie Bassett. Photo Credit: St. Louis Post-Dispatch archive

Additional information:

• Bachelor of science in electrical engineering from Texas Technological College;
• Captain, USAF; test pilot in the Fighter Projects Office at Edwards AFB;
• In 1963 selected as Military Astronaut - Class 3; then selected for the Gemini 9 mission.
• Note: On February 28, 1966, two T-38 jet trainers flew over the city of St. louis. On board were the prime and back-up crewman of the Gemini 9 mission, scheduled to take place later in the year. The astronauts were on their way to see the Gemini 9 spacecraft being built at the Mc Donnell Douglass factory in St Louis. Visibility was very poor, and the first aircraft made an unsuccessfull attempt to land at the airport adjoining the factory. As it came in a second time, the T-38 hit the roof of the building housing Gemini 9, bounced off, smashed into a car park and exploded. The two men on board, Gemini 9 prime crew Elliot See and Charles Bassett, were killed. See was a Group 2 astronaut and Bassett was from Group 3.

External links:

• AmericaSpace: Remembering Project Gemini′s Worst Day.