A memorial service was held Friday morning at the Kennedy Space Center to honor the first man who died in the race for space five decades to the day after a tragic accident.
Dozens gathered at the Space Mirror Memorial at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex to remember Air Force Captain Theodore Freeman who was killed in a T-38 jet crash in Houston on October 31, 1964.
A NASA investigation determined a large goose struck the plane, resulting in the crash.
Freeman was chosen in the third group of men in 1963 to join the astronaut corps and was considered for the Gemini Program before his death.
Freeman's daughter and granddaughter were among those who remembered his sacrifice fifty years ago.
“You do repay the debt to us by being here. You repay it with this memorial that other people can see,” said Freeman's daughter Faith Johnson.
Captain Ted Freeman is memorialized on the Space Mirror Memorial and was buried at Arlington National Cemetery with full military honors.