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Home Texas Bexar County San Antonio Edward H. White II Memorial Hangar, Brooks Air Force Base
     

Edward H. White II Memorial Hangar, Brooks Air Force Base

  Texas Historical Markers
San Antonio, TX, USA

Latitude & Longitude: 2° 56' 12.5988", -98° 30' 48.798"
 
    Texas State
Historical Marker
    Astronaut Lieutenant Colonel Edward H. White II (born at Fort Sam Houston, Nov. 14, 1930) was the first American to walk in space, while tethered to his Gemini Spacecraft on June 3, 1965. Along with two companions, he died on Jan. 27, 1967, in a flash fire at the launch site while in training for the first moon flight aboard an Apollo spacecraft. The astronauts' flight heritage is tied closely to the pioneer flying schools of San Antonio. The father of astronaut White, Major General Edward H. White, learned to fly here at Hanger 9, as did Charles A. Lindbergh and many other pioneers. Hangar 9, one of over 30 of its type at Kelly and Brooks Fields, was the standard Hangar used by the U.S. Army Signal Corps to house the Curtiss JN-4 Jenny at flying schools during World War I. Brooks Field was named for San Antonio native Sidney J. Brooks, killed at Kelly Field, Nov. 13, 1917. Construction on Brooks Field began Dec. 1, 1917. Colonel H. Conger Pratt was the first commander. Long a primary school for heavier-than-air craft, it has been used for many pioneer roles, including development of Aerospace medicine.

This page last updated: 7/15/2008

Edward H. White II Memorial Hangar, Brooks Air Force Base Historical Marker Location Map, San Antonio, Texas