Here’s a look at the life of astronaut Fred Haise.
Personal:
Birth date: November 14, 1933
Birth place: Biloxi, Mississippi
Birth name: Fred Wallace Haise, Jr.
Father: Fred Haise Sr.
Mother: Lucille (Blacksher) Haise
Marriages: F. Patt (Price) Haise (1979-present); Mary Griffin Grant (June 4, 1954-1978, divorced)
Children: with Mary Grant: Thomas Jesse, 1970; Stephen William, 1961; Frederick Thomas, 1958; Mary Margaret, 1956
Education: University of Oklahoma, B.S. in Aeronautical Engineering, 1959
Military service: US Navy, 1952-1954 naval aviation cadet; US Marine Corps, 1954-1956; Oklahoma Air National Guard, 1957-1963; US Air Force, 1961-1962, Captain
Other Facts:
Served in the backup crew for Apollo 11 with Jim Lovell and William Anders.
Test pilot of the Space Shuttle Enterprise.
Highly involved in the fundraising and building of the Infinity Science Center in Mississippi.
Timeline:
1952 – Joins the US Navy as a naval aviation cadet at the Naval Air Station in Pensacola, Florida.
1954-1956 – Is assigned to the US Marine Corp as a fighter pilot.
1957 – Joins the Oklahoma Air National Guard.
1961-1962 – Is called for active duty by the US Air Force.
1956-1966 – Research test pilot.
April 1966 – Haise is part of the fifth group of men chosen by NASA to become astronauts.
April 11-17, 1970 – Serves as the Lunar Module Pilot of Apollo 13 with Commander Jim Lovell and Command Module Pilot John L. Swigert, Jr. The mission lasts 5 days, 22 hours, 54 minutes, and 41 seconds. An oxygen tank explosion two and half days into the flight causing the mission to be aborted and the remaining time is spent working towards the crew’s safe return.
April 17, 1970 – The crew returns to earth safely, splashing down in the South Pacific Ocean.
April 18, 1970 – Receives the Presidential Medal of Freedom from President Nixon.
August 23, 1973 – Crashes a World War II training plane and suffers second degree burns over 65% of his body.
August 12, 1977 – Pilots the first test flight of the Space Shuttle Enterprise.
June 29, 1979 – Retires from NASA.
1979-1996 – Works for Grumman Aerospace Corporation.
October 4, 1997 – Is inducted into the US Astronaut Hall of Fame.