Editing Roger B. Chaffee (section)

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{{Quote box|The world itself looks cleaner and so much more beautiful. Maybe we can make it that way—the way God intended it to be—by giving everybody that new perspective from out in space.|width=20%|source=—Roger Chaffee<ref name="newmexico">{{cite web|url=http://www.nmspacemuseum.org/halloffame/detail.php?id=73|title=Named Pilot of the Apollo 1 crew.|publisher=New Mexico Museum of Space History|access-date=June 5, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160308200304/http://nmspacemuseum.org/halloffame/detail.php?id=73|archive-date=March 8, 2016|url-status=live}}</ref>}}
In August 1962, Chaffee confided in his family that he had submitted an application for the [[NASA]] [[astronaut]] training program, and informed his superiors of his desire to train as a [[test pilot]] for astronaut status.{{sfn|Chrysler|Chaffee|1968|p=78}} In mid-1962, he was accepted in the initial pool of 1,800 applicants for the [[NASA Astronaut Group 3|third group of NASA astronauts]].<ref name="history.nasa.gov" />{{sfn|Chrysler|Chaffee|1968|p=79}} After his naval tour was over, and he had racked up over 1,800 hours of flying time, the Navy offered him the opportunity to continue work on his master's degree.{{sfn|Chrysler|Chaffee|1968|p=79}} In January 1963, he entered the U.S. [[Air Force Institute of Technology]] (AFIT) at [[Wright-Patterson Air Force Base]] in [[Dayton, Ohio]], of [[Air University (United States Air Force)|Air University]], to work on his [[Master of Science]] degree in [[reliability engineering]].<ref name="chaffee space" />

While at AFIT, Chaffee continued participating in astronaut candidate testing as the pool of candidates dropped to 271 in mid-1963. It was noted during testing that he had a very small lung capacity but he used it better than most people with greater capacity.{{sfn|Chrysler|Chaffee|1968|p=82}} On his return from a hunting trip to [[Fairborn, Ohio]], on October 14, 1963, he found a message from NASA in [[Houston]], Texas.{{sfn|Chrysler|Chaffee|1968|p=82}} He called them back, and discovered he had been chosen as an astronaut.<ref name="history.nasa.gov" /> On October 18, 1963, it was officially announced that he was one of fourteen chosen for NASA's third group of astronauts.<ref name="astronautsmemorial" /> He said, "I was very pleased with the appointment. I've always wanted to fly and perform adventurous flying tasks all my life. Ever since the first [[Mercury Seven|seven Mercury astronauts]] were named, I've been keeping my studies up."{{sfn|Chrysler|Chaffee|1968|p=85}}