Gus Grissom

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{{Infobox Astronaut | name =Virgil Ivan "Gus" Grissom | image =Gus Grissom photo portrait head and shoulders.jpg | USA =USA | nationality =American | date_birth =April 3, 1926 | date_death =January 27, 1967 | place_birth =Mitchell, Indiana | place_death =Cape Canaveral, Florida | occupation =Test Pilot | rank =Lieutenant Colonel, USAF | selection =1959 NASA Group | time =5h 7m | mission =Mercury 4, Gemini 3, Apollo 1 | insignia =Image:Liberty bell insignia.jpg Image:Gemini3.JPG Image:Apollo 1 patch.jpg |}}

Virgil Ivan "Gus" Grissom (April 3, 1926 – January 27, 1967) was a U.S. Air Force pilot who became one of the first American astronauts and one of the first to die in the U.S. space program. He was also the first astronaut to go into space twice.

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Background

Grissom was born in Mitchell, Indiana and graduated from Mitchell High School. He earned a B.S. in mechanical engineering from Purdue University in 1950. He had two children, Scott and Mark, with his wife Betty Moore Grissom. For some part of his life he lived in Peru, Indiana.

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Career

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Military

Grissom was a United States Air Force Lieutenant Colonel. He received his wings in March, 1951. Over his Air Force career he flew 100 combat missions in Korea in F-86s with the 334th Fighter Interceptor Squadron. Upon returning from Korea, he became a jet instructor at Bryan, Texas.

In August 1955, Grissom entered the Air Force Institute of Technology at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, to study aeronautical engineering.

In October 1956, he entered the Test Pilot School at Edwards Air Force Base, California, and returned to Wright-Patterson in May 1957 as a test pilot assigned to the fighter branch.

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NASA

In 1959, after physical and psychological tests, Grissom was chosen as one of the seven Project Mercury astronauts, along with:

He was pilot of Mercury-Redstone 4 ("Liberty Bell 7"), the second American (suborbital) spaceflight. Following the splashdown of "Liberty Bell 7", the hatch ejected prematurely, letting water into the capsule and into Grissom's suit. Grissom nearly drowned but was rescued by helicopter, while the spacecraft sank in deep water.

After Alan Shepard was grounded, Grissom was designated command pilot for the first manned Project Gemini mission (Gemini 3), making him the first man to return to space, in addition he was named as backup command pilot for Gemini 6.

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Death

Template:QuoteSidebar Grissom was made commander of Apollo 1, intended to be the first manned Apollo flight. He was killed along with fellow astronauts Ed White and Roger B. Chaffee in the Apollo 1 fire at Cape Kennedy on January 27 1967. He is buried at Arlington National Cemetery.

According to the Star tabloid, Gus's son Scott Grissom, a pilot himself, demanded a renewed investigation into the disaster that claimed the life of his father, and believes that the Apollo 1 astronauts died from an act of sabotage.

NASA management wanted one of the original Mercury Seven astronauts to be the first man to eventually walk on the moon. Had Grissom lived, he would very likely have been that man.

He logged a total of 4,600 hours flying time, including 3,500 hours in jet aircraft.

An artificial island in San Pedro Bay off Southern California, is also named for him.

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Awards and honors

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Tributes

  • Grissom Air Reserve Base in Indiana is named after him.
  • The Virgil I. Grissom Library in the Denbigh section of Newport News, Virginia is named after him.
  • The Virgil I. Grissom High School in Huntsville, Alabama is named after him.
  • The Virgil I. Grissom Middle School in Mishawaka, Indiana is named after him.
  • The Virgil I. Grissom Elementary School in Tinley Park, Illinois is named after him.
  • The Virgil I. Grissom Elementary School in Hegewisch, Illinois (Chicago) is named after him.
  • The Virgil I. Grissom School No. 7 in Rochester, NY is named after him.
  • The now defunct V.I. Grissom Elementary School in the former Clark Air Base, Philippines was named after him.
  • CSI character Gil Grissom is named after him.
  • Thunderbirds character Virgil Tracy is named after him.
  • Grissom Hall at Purdue University is named after him.
  • Grissom Hall at SUNY Fredonia is named after him.
  • Grissom Hall at Florida Institute of Technology is named after him.
  • The star Epsilon Cassiopeiae was named Navi, "Ivan" backwards, in his honor. Grissom and his crew used the star to calibrate their equipment and recorded the name as a joke, though it eventually stuck.Template:Ref
  • Gus Grissom is the Class Exemplar of the United States Air Force Academy's class of 2007.
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Film and television

Grissom was depicted in the movie The Right Stuff (1983) by Fred Ward, in the movie Apollo 13 (1995) by Steve Bernie, and in the TV mini-series From the Earth to the Moon (1998) by Mark Rolston. Actor Kevin McCorkle played Grissom in the third season finale of the NBC television show American Dreams. Had the show not been cancelled, the Apollo 1 fire would have figured into the fourth season storyline.

Bryan Cranston played Grissom as a nervous variety-show guest in the film That Thing You Do!

In the movie Star Trek III: The Search for Spock, the Federation starship sent to survey the newly formed Genesis Planet was named USS Grissom.

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References

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External links

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