Roger B. Chaffee

Roger Bruce Chaffee was an American <a href="/facts/Officer_(armed_forces)/FDFw2Bpd">naval officer</a>, <a href="/facts/United_States_naval_aviator/ApM3pUHr">aviator</a> and <a href="/facts/Aeronautical_engineer/2Ib02w7f">aeronautical engineer</a> who was a <a href="/facts/NASA_astronaut/KIrAUWHN">NASA astronaut</a> in the <a href="/facts/Apollo_program/IC1Ek1Ao">Apollo program</a>.
Chaffee was born in <a href="/facts/Grand_Rapids%2c_Michigan/R5xJsxsd">Grand Rapids, Michigan</a>, where he became an <a href="/facts/Eagle_Scout/ndajad9W">Eagle Scout</a>. He graduated from <a href="/facts/Central_High_School_(Grand_Rapids%2c_Michigan)/5IATuN3F">Central High School</a> in 1953, and accepted a <a href="/facts/Naval_Reserve_Officers_Training_Corps/6ybtHtkM">Naval Reserve Officers Training Corps</a> (NROTC) scholarship. He began his college education at <a href="/facts/Illinois_Institute_of_Technology/0ndIXaKQ">Illinois Institute of Technology</a>, where he was involved in the fraternity <a href="/facts/Phi_Kappa_Sigma/9y4QtLAM">Phi Kappa Sigma</a>. He transferred to <a href="/facts/Purdue_University/dRuTdltL">Purdue University</a> in 1954, continuing his involvement in Phi Kappa Sigma serving as chapter president in 1956 and obtaining his <a href="/facts/Private_pilot_licence/PI8uaTH5">private pilot's license</a>.
After graduating from Purdue in 1957 with a Bachelor of Science degree in <a href="/facts/Aerospace_engineering/2Ib02w7f">Aeronautical Engineering</a>, Chaffee completed his Navy training and was commissioned as an <a href="/facts/Ensign_(rank)/K6EuCgvs">ensign</a>. He began pilot training at <a href="/facts/Naval_Air_Station_Pensacola/mBAHnJpH">Naval Air Station Pensacola</a>, Florida, flying aircraft such as the <a href="/facts/Beechcraft_T-34_Mentor/EEjmBp45">T-34</a>, <a href="/facts/North_American_T-28_Trojan/PBfMjS6H">T-28</a>, and <a href="/facts/Douglas_A-3_Skywarrior/T4fU5tUh">A3D</a>. He became quality and safety control officer for <a href="/facts/VAP-62/WlkzDQ0v">Heavy Photographic Squadron 62</a> (VAP-62). His time in this unit included taking crucial photos of Cuba during the <a href="/facts/Cuban_Missile_Crisis/GmDGYcWA">Cuban Missile Crisis</a>, earning him the <a href="/facts/Air_Medal/PkRvlT5I">Air Medal</a>. He was promoted to <a href="/facts/Lieutenant_commander_(United_States)/nsSYGl9W">lieutenant commander</a> in 1966.
Along with thirteen other pilots, Chaffee was selected to be an astronaut as part of <a href="/facts/NASA_Astronaut_Group_3/vmIbq4Q0">NASA Astronaut Group 3</a> in 1963. He served as <a href="/facts/Capsule_communicator/qu44PG1U">capsule communicator</a> (CAPCOM) for the <a href="/facts/Gemini_3/XPEobJrK">Gemini 3</a> and <a href="/facts/Gemini_4/HGmV3h8e">Gemini 4</a> missions and received his first spaceflight assignment in 1966 as the third-ranking pilot on <a href="/facts/Apollo_1/aJEvDnBM">Apollo 1</a>. In 1967, he died in a fire along with fellow astronauts <a href="/facts/Gus_Grissom/NKemkrR5">Virgil "Gus" Grissom</a> and <a href="/facts/Ed_White_(astronaut)/RFcTeQWF">Ed White</a> during a pre-launch test for the mission at what was then the <a href="/facts/Cape_Canaveral_Air_Force_Station_Launch_Complex_34/Y4Gucdwt">Cape Kennedy Air Force Station Launch Complex 34</a>, Florida. He was posthumously awarded the <a href="/facts/Congressional_Space_Medal_of_Honor/m63rYu3x">Congressional Space Medal of Honor</a> and a second Air Medal.

Roger B. Chaffee open-in-new

Roger B. Chaffee