Haise, Fred W., Jr.

▪ American astronaut

in full  Fred Wallace Haise, Jr. 

born Nov. 14, 1933, Biloxi, Miss., U.S.

 

 American astronaut, participant in the Apollo (Apollo program) 13 mission (April 11–17, 1970), in which an intended Moon landing was canceled because of a rupture in a fuel-cell oxygen tank in the Service Module. The crew, consisting of Haise, John L. Swigert, Jr., and James A. Lovell, Jr. (Lovell, James A(rthur), Jr.), returned safely to Earth, however, making use of the life-support system in the Lunar Module.

      Haise became a naval-aviation cadet in 1952 and served as a fighter pilot in the U.S. Marine Corps (1954–56). After obtaining a bachelor's degree (1959) from the University of Oklahoma, Norman, Haise joined the National Aeronautics and Space Administration as a test pilot; he was selected for the manned space program in 1966.

      After Project Apollo was closed in 1977, Haise was assigned to the space shuttle program for two years. He then accepted an executive position with the Grumman Aerospace Corporation, Bethpage, N.Y.

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