Talk:Edward Higgins White

Redundant category

"Postdlf (removed redundant category) [astronauts]"

Why is that category redundant? The U.S. isn't the only country that has ever had astronauts. TaintedMustard 08:14, 5 Apr 2005 (UTC)

Notability of Mrs. White

"As the result of a coroners inquiry many years after his death it was determined that his widow, Pat White, took her own life." Could the contributor tell us where s/he found this?

TaintedMustard 08:11, 5 Apr 2005 (UTC)

It was mentioned in the New York Times-do a search! (This is apparently an unsigned response, improperly typed into the quote above.)

I was not the original contributor but it is subtitled at the end of Episode 11 of "From the Earth to the Moon" of the HBO 1998 Mini Series. The exact wording is "In 1983 a coroner's report determined that Pat White took her own life. She had been organizing a reunion of her astronaut wife friends."

I believe it is worthy enough to mention into the main Ed White article. Buzzetta 00:27, 14 September 2007 (UTC)

So, I'm curious why Pat White links back to Ed White? I see that there was some speculation about her death. Not only is it mentioned in "From the Earth To the Moon", but Craig Nelson's heavily researched novel "Rocket Men: The Epic Story of the First Men on the Moon" also says; "Nearly twenty years later, Pat White, in the middle of organizing an Apollo wives' reunion, committed suicide." Chapter 12 "Transfiguration", Pp 189. This means there are at least two sources about Pat's death that we have here. (It looks like the episode of From the Earth to the Moon" where her death is mentioned is #11... if that helps any). Can we un-link these two records? There is a lot of information out there about Pat White; she fought for Ed to be buried at West Point instead of Arlington, she raised two children on Test Pilot's pensions (Not a lot), participated in the suit against North American for negligence in the fire... there should be more to her than simply a footnote in Ed's bio... Aabh (talk) 23:18, 24 January 2011 (UTC)

Somebody created a stub article in 2006, but it was nothing more than a single sentence saying she was his wife, and was speedily deleted. FTETTM is a docudrama and as such, doesn't meet Wikipedia standards as a reliable source; you would have to go to their sources. Also, I don't know who this Craig Nelson is, and how literally do you mean "novel" (understood in the US as a work of fiction.) Is this really something similar; a dramatic account, but in book form? If so, it doesn't qualify either.

My gut feel is that she doesn't meet the notability requirement; I don't think she's really notable other than for being his wife (widow), despite what an interesting story her tragic life in the aftermath of her husband's death might make. The same might be said of Betty Grissom, and Roger Chaffee's family, too. People in this situation generally want to grieve and continue their lives in privacy.

But if there is, as you say, "a lot of information out there" from reliable sources, go for it. JustinTime55 (talk) 22:34, 25 January 2011 (UTC)

In the meantime, since Pat White is mentioned earlier in the article and has since passed away, I've added a short paragraph noting her death in 1983 and included 2 respectable references.

In the meantime, since Pat White is mentioned earlier in the article and has since passed away, I've added a short paragraph noting her death in 1983 and included 2 respectable references. Pleonic (talk) 02:12, 12 February 2012 (UTC)

Death

Had he lived, White would certainly have gone on to be Commander of a later Apollo mission and walk on the moon.

removed this as speculation —Home Row Keysplurge 04:42, 28 January 2006 (UTC)

hi

Hi I am doing a homwork assigment on Edward White. Can you add more stuff to this site? —Preceding unsigned comment added by Makezz1 (talk • contribs) 22:16, 6 May 2008 (UTC)

Mission Insignia

The only patch is the Gemini 4 insignia. Ed White was also a member of Apollo 1. Just because he died a few weeks before launch doesn't mean he wasn't a part of the mission. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 66.32.128.240 (talk) 12:05, 30 June 2008 (UTC)

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Change in Infobox Status

I reverted an edit that changed Edward Higgen's infobox from "Killed while training in the Apollo 1 Command Module" to "Died during a plugs-out test of the AS-204 Command Module" because to me such a description is too detailed for an encyclopedic article. But if I moved too swiftly, please respond and lets discuss the pros and cons. Thanks! Skeet Shooter (talk) 03:38, 28 July 2009 (UTC)

No, it's all part of the WP:BRD process. I updated White's status to be consistent with the language used in the Gus Grissom and Roger B. Chaffee articles as well as the Apollo 1 article itself. - Dravecky (talk) 03:43, 28 July 2009 (UTC)

OK, thanks. I agree consistency is important, but the text still seems very wordy and arcane for the high-level summary of an Infobox. The Template:Infobox_Astronaut instructions state the status field be set to "the person's status as a member of an astronaut corps - Active, Retired, Deceased, etc." I propose simplifying the Infobox entry to match the template instructions and keep the details in the Apollo 1 article. Skeet Shooter (talk) 02:59, 30 July 2009 (UTC)

"This is the saddest moment of my life"

These are the words White utters has re reenters Gemini 4, having been ordered to conclude his epic EVA. I think this quote deserves to be highlighted in the article. (I assume he actually said this, as I'm watching it on the first episode of the HBO documentary series From the Earth to the Moon. __meco (talk) 12:48, 5 August 2010 (UTC)

That show is a docudrama and not a documentary, and thus does not qualify as a reliable source. We need factual documentation of the quote in order to put it in. JustinTime55 (talk) 16:27, 5 August 2010 (UTC)

How about the official NASA mission transcript of Gemini IV voice communications? It's at http://www.jsc.nasa.gov/history/mission_trans/GT04_TEC.PDF, on page 56, at 4:48:46 elapsed mission time. Jim Simmons (talk) 18:52, 5 August 2010 (UTC)

Great! I've added the quote in the article. __meco (talk) 19:53, 5 August 2010 (UTC)

Portrait in infobox

I agree with JustinTime55's previous comment in an edit summary that "Replacement of Apollo 1 portrait w/ older one not an improvement", but 69.116.4.45 has again replaced Apollo1-EdWhite.jpg with EdwardWhite.jpeg. Are we going to have to have a revert war over this? Gildir (talk) 19:32, 8 February 2012 (UTC)

I say we go to a neutral photo, like say the one in his official NASA biography.--NavyBlue84 20:18, 8 February 2012 (UTC)

I certainly don't want a revert war. But I'm not happy with NavyBlue's suggestion either; I don't think that photo is really neutral because it obviously dates from White's Gemini training. It's unfortunate that MOS:BIO doesn't offer any guidelines about lead photos. I think a person who has done several notable things in his/her life should be represented near current (if alive), or at the latest publicly recognizable state (last achievement before retirement or death.) I know I've worded that clumsily, and I thought I read some kind of discussion to that effect somewhere on WP though I can't recall it now. (Maybe we could get a discussion of the principle going on the WP:MOS talk page.)

I guess my motivation is mostly emotional, but even though White was a Gemini astronaut and is remembered for making the first US spacewalk, he's also remembered because of his tragic death circumstances, so would like to see his lead photo in his Apollo 1 suit, the way it stood for a long time. Since the current photo in his USAF uniform is his "official" NASA portrait, and was taken in 1966 (close to the time of the Apollo 1 fire), I would have less objection to keeping it the way it is. (I don't think "officiality" is really pertinent, though.)

However, Gus Grissom's lead photo is quite another story. He was the command pilot of the Apollo flight, and I feel definitely does deserve to be remembered mostly for that. His Apollo 1 spacesuit picture is much more appropriate than the 1964 picture of him in a suit standing next to a Gemini-Titan model, with which I'm not at all happy.

Is there any way we can persuade 69.116.4.45 to weigh in here with his rationale? JustinTime55 (talk) 21:25, 8 February 2012 (UTC)

If I had to pick one of those two photos, I would have to say the one of him in his USAF uniform. I am sure there are other ones of that nature that were taken closer to the time of his death, maybe we could find one of those.--NavyBlue84 21:43, 8 February 2012 (UTC)