ROGER B CHAFFEE

Roger Bruce Chaffee was born on February 15 1935 in Grand Rapids, Michigan. After graduating from high school in 1953, Chaffee attended the Illinois Institute of Technology using a Naval Reserve Officers Training Corps (NROTC) scholarship. Chaffee transfered to Purdue Universitry in 1954 to study aeronatical engineering. In 1955, NROTC provided the funds for Chaffee to become a naval aviator. He graduated in 1957 with distinction in auronatical engineering from purdue. Chaffee would spend most of his enlistments involved in photo reconnaissance squadrons. His first project was repairing the plan used for photo reconnaissance and he became one of the youngest pilots to fly from his knowledge of repairing it. In 1962, interested in the astronaut training program, Chaffee requested test pilot training and pursued his masters in relability engineering. He was selected for NASA's 3rd group of astronauts in 1963. His speciality was communications with a focus on deep space instrumentation for space navigation. Chaffee received his first spaceflight assignment in January 1966 as the youngest American astronaut to be selected for a mission with the Apollo-Saturn flight, AS-204, known as Apollo 1. Chaffee replaced the injured Donn F. Eisele in the third-ranked pilot position. Chaffee was promoted to Lieutenant commander in February 1966 after logging more than 2,300 hours of flying with more than 2,000 being jet aircraft. Chaffee died on January 27, 1967, alongside astronauts Virgil "Gus" Grissom and Edward Higgins White II in a fire during pre-launch testing for Apollo 1 at Cape Canaveral, Florida. Chaffee was posthumously awarded the NASA Distinguished Service Medal and the Congressional Space Medal of Honor.