The Pioneer
This statue is dedicated to the early pioneers of space. It can be found at the United Kingdoms National Space Centre in Leicester
The plaque on the statue says
"On 2 June 1965 Ed White became the first American to conduct a space walk, three months after Alexei Leonov had achieved the feat for the Soviet Union. He used a hand-held propulsion unit and a tether to move around outside the Gemini IV space capsule as it travelled around the Earth at 17,500mph. He returned home a hero.
Eighten months later he and his collegues, Virgil "Gus" Grissom and ROger Chaffee, died in the fire on the launch pad whilst training for Apollo 1 mission.
Space is a difficult place to get to and a dangerous place to be. The National Space Centre salutes the bravery of the early pioneers and all those who have since travelled, lived and worked in space"
National Space Centre 30 June 2011"