Theodore Freeman
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| Theodore Cordy Freeman | |
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| NASA Astronaut | |
| Nationality | American |
| Status | Died during training |
| Born | February 18, 1930 Haverford, Pennsylvania |
| Died | October 31, 1964 Houston, Texas |
| Other occupation | Test Pilot |
| Rank | Captain, USAF |
| Selection | 1963 NASA Group |
| Missions | None |
Theodore Cordy Freeman (born February 18, 1930, in Haverford, Pennsylvania; died October 31, 1964 at Ellington Air Force Base, Houston, Texas) was a NASA astronaut and a captain in the United States Air Force. He was killed in the crash of a T-38 jet. He was survived by his wife Faith Clark Freeman and one daughter, Faith Huntington.
Freeman completed his secondary education in 1948. He attended the University of Delaware at Newark for one year, then entered the United States Naval Academy and graduated in 1953 with a Bachelor of Science degree. In 1960, he received a Master of Science degree in aeronautical engineering from the University of Michigan. Freeman was also a member of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, and the Society of Experimental Test Pilots.
Freeman graduated from both the Air Force's Experimental Test Pilot and Aerospace Research Pilot Courses. He elected to serve with the Air Force. His last Air Force assignment was as a flight test aeronautical engineer and experimental flight test instructor at the Aerospace Research Pilot School at Edwards Air Force Base in the Mojave Desert.
He served primarily in performance flight testing and stability testing areas. He logged more than 3,300 hours flying time, including more than 2,400 hours in jet aircraft. Freeman was one of the third group of astronauts selected by NASA in October 1963.
On October 31, 1964, Theodore Freeman was killed when a goose smashed through the cockpit canopy of his T-38 Talon jet trainer. Flying shards of Plexiglas entered the jet engine intake and caused the engine to flameout. Freeman ejected from the stricken aircraft, but was too close to the ground for his parachute to open properly. He was posthumously awarded the Purple Heart.
The Clear Lake City-County Freeman Branch Library of the Harris County Public Library and Houston Public Library systems is named in memory of Freeman. An artificial island off Southern California, is also named for him (this is one of the four "Astronaut Islands" built in Long Beach Harbor during the late 1960s as unsinkable platforms for oil drilling -- the others were named Grissom, White and Chaffee, in honor of the astronauts killed in the Apollo 1 fire).
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