Charles Bassett

Charles A. Bassett II
NASA Astronaut
Nationality	American
Status	Deceased
Born	(1931-12-30)December 30, 1931 Dayton, Ohio, U.S.
Died	February 28, 1966(1966-02-28) (aged 34) St. Louis, Missouri, U.S.
Resting place	Arlington National Cemetery
Other names	Charles Arthur Bassett II
Other occupation	Test pilot
Alma mater	Ohio State University Texas Tech, B.S. 1960 University of Southern California
Rank	Captain, USAF
Selection	1963 NASA Group 3
Missions	None

Charles Arthur "Charlie" Bassett II (December 30, 1931 – February 28, 1966), (Capt, USAF), was an American electrical engineer and United States Air Force test pilot. He was selected as a NASA astronaut in 1963 and assigned to Gemini 9, but died in an airplane crash during training for his first spaceflight.

Bassett was born in Dayton, Ohio, on December 30, 1931. He was active in the Boy Scouts of America, where he achieved its second highest rank, Life Scout. After graduating from Berea High School in Berea, Ohio in 1950, he attended Ohio State University from 1950 to 1952, and Texas Technological College, now Texas Tech University, from 1958 to 1960. He received a Bachelor of Science degree with honors in Electrical Engineering from Texas Tech; he did graduate work at University of Southern California.

In 1952 he entered the United States Air Force as an Aviation Cadet. He trained at Stallings Air Force Base, North Carolina; Bryan Air Force Base, Texas; and Nellis Air Force Base, Nevada, completing advanced work in April 1954. He went to Korea with the 8th Fighter Bomber Group and flew a F-86 Sabres. He was too late to fly any combat missions, and said, "If you don’t have any challenge, you never know how good you are." Bassett was promoted to First Lieutenant in May 1955. He returned for pilot duties at Suffolk County Air Force Base, New York, serving until April 1958 when he took the Electrical Engineering course at the U.S. Air Force Institute of Technology at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio.