White, Edward Higgins, II (1930-1967), in 1965 became the first United States astronaut to leave his craft while in outer space. The spacewalk lasted 21 minutes and took place on June 3, 1965, during a four-day flight made by White and James A. McDivitt. White and astronauts Virgil Grissom and Roger Chaffee died on Jan. 27, 1967, when a flash fire swept through their Apollo spacecraft. The fire occurred during a test at Cape Kennedy (now Cape Canaveral), Florida.