Posts: 1933
From: Fairfax, VA, USA
Registered: Feb 2007

posted 03-29-2018 10:33 AM               

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SOLD Ted Freeman, an Air Force captain, was named as one of the 14 Group Three astronauts in October of 1963. A year later, he was flying a T-38 from St. Louis back to Houston when his plane collided with a goose. The Plexiglass canopy was shattered, and pieces flew into the jet engines' air airtake, shutting them down. He ejected near Ellington AFB, but was too low and his parachute did not open in time. This was the first death of one of NASA's astronauts.

Here is a November 1961 leave request filled out when Freeman was stationed at Edwards AFB, and he and his family were planning a vacation to Hawaii. Freeman signed a full "Theodore C. Freeman", initialed a section, and later wrote at the top "I took 12 (twelve) days of this."

About a year ago a Freeman signed document sold at auction for $437. This one is SOLD $350.

(Freeman's wife Faith, named on this document, unfortunately learned of her husband's death when a reporter showed up at her door. This made NASA realize they had to have a better procedure in place, and made the astronaut wives unofficially decide that if they learned an astronaut had been killed, one of them would go to the house of the newly widowed wife to shield her from finding out in such a way, then offer support after she'd been officially told.)