Editing Elliot See (section)

==Death==
{{stack|
[[File:The Original Gemini 9 Prime Crew - GPN-2000-001352.jpg|thumb|upright=1.2|Elliot See and [[Charles Bassett]]]]
[[File:ANCExplorer Elliot See grave.jpg|thumb|Grave of Elliot See at [[Arlington National Cemetery]]]]
}}
{{main|1966 NASA T-38 crash}}
On February 28, 1966, See and Charles Bassett were flying with their backup crew, [[Gene Cernan]] and [[Thomas P. Stafford|Thomas Stafford]], from [[Ellington Air Force Base]] to [[Lambert Field]] in [[St. Louis]], Missouri, for two weeks of space rendezvous simulator training.<ref name="losingtm" /> The prime crew flew in one jet and the backup crew in another. See was the pilot of their [[T-38 Talon|T-38]] trainer jet, with Bassett in the rear seat.<ref name="ajshoot">{{cite news |first=Di |last=Freeze |work=Airport Journals |title=Gene Cernan: Always Shoot for the Moon, Part I |url=http://www.airportjournals.com/display.cfm?varid=0507004 |date=July 2005 |access-date=June 10, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120627064334/http://airportjournals.com/Display.cfm?varID=0507004 |archive-date=June 27, 2012 |url-status=dead}}</ref>

The weather at Lambert Field that Monday morning was poor and required an [[instrument approach]]. Both jets overshot the initial landing attempt; See continued with a [[visual circling approach]] and Stafford elected to follow the standard procedure for a [[missed approach]]. On his second attempt, See undershot the runway, hit the afterburners and turned to the right.{{sfn|Burgess|Doolan|Vis|2003|pp=33–34}}

The jet crashed into McDonnell Aircraft Building 101, where the Gemini spacecraft was built. See was found in a parking lot still strapped to his ejection seat. Both astronauts died instantly from trauma sustained in the accident, within {{convert|500|ft|spell=in}} of their spacecraft. See and Bassett were buried near each other in [[Arlington National Cemetery]]; their graves are about {{convert|100|yd|round=5|spell=in}} from [[Theodore Freeman]], another astronaut who had died in a T-38 crash sixteen months earlier.<ref name="losingtm">{{cite magazine |first=W. Pate |last=McMichael |magazine=[[St. Louis Magazine]] |location=[[St. Louis, MO]] |title=Losing The Moon |url=http://www.stlmag.com/St-Louis-Magazine/May-2006/Losing-The-Moon/ |date=May 2006 |access-date=2016-10-09 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/33458404/the_daily_sentinel/|title=Astronauts See, Bassett Paid Arlington Tributes|newspaper=The Daily Sentinel|location=Grand Junction, Colorado|date=1966-03-04 |page=14|agency=Associated Press|via=Newspapers.com}}</ref><ref name=tsaarl>{{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=SCgRAAAAIBAJ&sjid=NOEDAAAAIBAJ&pg=5107%2C599673 |work=Eugene Register-Guard |location=(Oregon) |agency=Associated Press |title=Taps sounded at Arlington |date=1966-03-04 |page=5A}}</ref>

After a reporter had disclosed to Freeman's wife that he had died, NASA enacted new policies to avoid a similar embarrassing situation in the future. In compliance with these policies, astronaut [[John Young (astronaut)|John Young]] asked Marilyn Lovell and Jane Conrad to go to Marilyn See's house and ensure that she did not find out about her husband's death from a non-NASA source. They rushed over and made excuses for their early surprise visit. After Young arrived to break the news, the three hugged her for comfort. Marilyn Lovell then went to the school to pick up Marilyn See's children, to make sure they did not find out from the press.{{sfn|Koppel|2013|pp=120–122}}

A NASA investigative panel later concluded that [[pilot error]], caused by bad weather, was the principal cause of the accident. The panel concluded that See was flying too low on his second approach, probably due to poor visibility.<ref>{{cite news |newspaper=Space News Roundup |publisher=NASA |title=Accident Board Reports Findings in See–Bassett Crash |url=http://www.jsc.nasa.gov/history/roundups/issues/66-06-10.pdf |page=3 |date=June 10, 1966 |access-date=2012-06-10 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160305013017/https://www.jsc.nasa.gov/history/roundups/issues/66-06-10.pdf|archive-date=2016-03-05 |url-status=dead}}</ref> At the time, See was known as one of the better pilots in the astronaut corps.{{sfn|Shayler|2000|p=82}} Slayton later expressed doubts about See's flying abilities, claiming that he flew too slowly: "[He] wasn't aggressive enough ... he flew too slow—a fatal problem in a plane like the T-38, which will stall easily if you get below {{convert|270|kn}}<!-- [{{convert|270|kn|kph|disp=out}}]-->."{{sfn|Slayton|Cassutt|1994|p=167}}

[[Jim Lovell]] and [[Buzz Aldrin]] were promoted to the backup crew as a result of the accident. Stafford and Cernan, the original backup crew, were launched three months later on June 3, 1966, as [[Gemini&nbsp;9A]].{{sfn|Hacker|Grimwood|2010|p=332}} The shuffling of the Gemini crews caused by the deaths of See and Bassett affected crew assignments for subsequent Gemini and [[Project Apollo]] missions. In particular, Aldrin flew as the pilot of [[Gemini 12]], and later [[Apollo 11]].{{sfn|Slayton|Cassutt|1994|pp=167–168}}

On Friday, March 4, 1966, both men were buried in [[Arlington National Cemetery]].<ref name=tsaarl/><ref name=sptmbu>{{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=e99YAAAAIBAJ&sjid=wfcDAAAAIBAJ&pg=1593%2C948653 |work=Spokane Daily Chronicle |location=(Washington) |agency=Associated Press |title=Space team is buried |date=March 4, 1966 |page=2}}</ref><ref name=fosranc>{{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=R2tWAAAAIBAJ&sjid=4OgDAAAAIBAJ&pg=5570%2C1091743 |work=Spokesman-Review |location=(Spokane, Washington) |agency=Associated Press (photo) |title=At funeral of fellow astronaut |date=March 5, 1966 |page=12}}</ref> During funeral services in Texas two days before, Aldrin, [[Bill Anders]], and [[Walter Cunningham]] flew the [[missing man formation]] in See's honor,<ref name=tftrb>{{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=RigRAAAAIBAJ&sjid=NOEDAAAAIBAJ&pg=6743%2C91994 |work=Eugene Register-Guard |location=(Oregon) |agency=Associated Press |title=3 fly T38s in tribute to astronaut |date=March 2, 1966 |page=3A}}</ref> while Lovell, [[Jim McDivitt]], and civilian pilot Jere Cobb did the same to honor Bassett.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/29300913/the_record/|title=Astronauts are Bid Farewell in Texas|agency=UPI|newspaper=The Record|location=Hackensack, New Jersey|date=March 3, 1966|page=37|via=Newspapers.com}}</ref><ref name=flytrb>{{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=ed9YAAAAIBAJ&sjid=wfcDAAAAIBAJ&pg=3292%2C270711 |work=Spokane Daily Chronicle |location=(Washington) |agency=Associated Press |title=Jet planes fly tribute at funeral |date=March 2, 1966 |page=2}}</ref>