Gus Grissom
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| Astronaut | |
|---|---|
| Nationality | American |
| Born | April 3, 1926 Mitchell, Indiana |
| Died | January 27, 1967 (age 41) Cape Canaveral, Florida |
| Occupation1 | Test pilot |
| Rank | Lieutenant Colonel, USAF |
| Space time | 5h 7m |
| Selection | 1959 NASA Group |
| Mission(s) | Mercury-Redstone 4, Gemini 3, Apollo 1 |
| Mission insignia |
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| 1 previous or current | |
Virgil Ivan "Gus" Grissom (April 3, 1926 – January 27, 1967) was a United States Air Force pilot and the second American astronaut to fly in space. He was killed during a training exercise for the Apollo One mission on January 27, 1967, at Launch Complex 34 at Cape Kennedy, along with fellow astronauts Ed White and Roger Chaffee.
A native of Mitchell, Indiana, Grissom earned a B.S. in mechanical engineering from Purdue University in 1950 and joined the United States Air Force. Receiving his wings in March, 1951, during the Korean War he flew 100 combat missions in F-86s with the 334th Fighter Interceptor Squadron. Grissom rose to the rank of Lieutenant Colonel.
Subsequently he became a jet instructor at Bryan, Texas and 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. In 1959, after physical and psychological tests, Grissom was chosen as one of the seven Project Mercury astronauts.
Grissom piloted Mercury-Redstone 4 ("Liberty Bell 7"), the second American (suborbital) spaceflight. He was also the first NASA Astronaut to fly a second mission, as the command pilot for the first manned Project Gemini mission (Gemini 3), making him the first astronaut to return to space as well as the first man to fly twice above the accepted boundary of space in a capsule-based spacecraft. He was made commander of Apollo 1, intended to be the first manned Apollo program 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.
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[edit] Background
Born in Mitchell, Indiana, he graduated from Mitchell High School, and then earned a B.S. in mechanical engineering from Purdue University in 1950.
As a young boy he attended the local Church of Christ.
He had two children, Scott and Mark, with his wife Betty Moore Grissom. For some part of his life he lived in Peru, Indiana.
He was a Master Mason and a member of Mitchell Lodge 228 in Mitchell, Indiana.
[edit] Career
[edit] 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.
[edit] NASA
In 1959, after physical and psychological tests, Grissom was chosen as one of the seven Project Mercury astronauts, along with:
- Lieutenant Malcolm Scott Carpenter, U.S. Navy
- Captain LeRoy Gordon Cooper, Jr., U.S. Air Force
- Lieutenant Colonel John Herschel Glenn, Jr., U.S. Marine Corps
- Lieutenant Commander Walter Marty Schirra, Jr., U.S. Navy
- Lieutenant Commander Alan Bartlett Shepard, Jr., U.S. Navy
- Captain Donald Kent Slayton, U.S. Air Force
He was pilot of Mercury-Redstone 4 ("Liberty Bell 7"), the second American (suborbital) spaceflight. Following the splashdown of "Liberty Bell 7", the hatch, which had explosive bolts, blew off 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. Grissom maintained he did nothing to set off the explosives to blow the hatch, and NASA officials agreed. The craft was recovered in 1999 but there was no evidence of how the hatch had been opened. However, later experience showed that the force necessary to trigger the initiator for the explosive egress system would leave a major bruise, and Grissom had no such injury. Guenter Wendt, "Pad Fuhrer" for most of the early American space launches, believes that the cover protecting the external release actuator was accidentally lost, then the T-handle may have been pulled by a parachute shroud line, or have been damaged by the heat of re-entry and fired when it contracted during cooling.
After Alan Shepard was grounded, Grissom was designated command pilot for the first manned Project Gemini mission (Gemini 3), making him the first astronaut to return to space.
Because of his Mercury experience Grissom, one of the smaller astronauts, was very close to the McDonnell engineers and technicians who built the Gemini capsule, and the first three spacecraft were designed around him. He also innovated a multi-axis joystick for controlling the maneuvering thrusters with one hand. The spacecraft was familiarly dubbed the "GUSMOBILE." By July 1963 NASA had discovered that 14 of the 16 astronauts could not be fitted into the cabin as designed, and all later cockpits had to be modified.[1]
[edit] Spacecraft naming
In a joking reference to the sinking of his Mercury craft, Grissom named the Gemini craft the Molly Brown after the Broadway show The Unsinkable Molly Brown. The NASA Public Affairs Office (PAO) fought the naming and when ordered to submit an alternate name, Grissom and Young offered The Titanic. Aghast, the NASA PAO relented and allowed Molly Brown to be named as such, but refused to use it in any official references. However, much to the PAO's chagrin, all references to Gemini 3 by ground controllers used Grissom's name, beginning with CAPCOM Gordo Cooper's sendoff of "You're on your way, Molly Brown" over the uplink at liftoff.
In what is considered by most space historians as a fit of pique by the NASA PAO, shortly after the safe return of Gemini 3, it was announced that a new policy of not naming spacecraft was in effect. This was upheld by then-NASA administrator James E. Webb, which prevented the next mission, Gemini IV, from being named "American Eagle". This decision was later reversed in 1967. The naming practice was resumed after it was determined that the Apollo flights required identifying two separate elements of the same flight. The PAO was overruled by a combined effort on the part of the astronauts and other, senior NASA administrators, and all Apollo missions beginning with Apollo IX received names for both their Command Modules and Lunar Modules (e.g., Charlie Brown and Snoopy, both of which were officially known as Apollo 10).
Some deference was given to the PAO in requiring that spacecraft names retain some sense of decorum, taste and historical perspective. This prevented Wally Schirra from naming his Apollo 7 spacecraft "The Phoenix" in honor of Grissom and the Apollo 1 crew, as it was felt the "fire" metaphor would not be taken in the proper spirit and understanding by the average taxpayer.
[edit] Trivia
| Quotation |
| If we die, we want people to accept it. We are in a risky business and we hope that if anything happens to us it will not delay the program. The conquest of space is worth the risk of life. |
| Virgil I. Grissom, after the Gemini 3 mission, March 1965 |
Grissom was also backup command pilot for Gemini 6 before shifting to the Apollo program.
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. Deke Slayton makes it clear in his 1994 autobiography "Deke!" that he wanted one of the original Mercury astronauts to take the first step on to the moon and "Had Gus been alive, as a Mercury astronaut he would have taken the step".
Grissom logged a total of 4,600 hours flying time, including 3,500 hours in jet aircraft.
Grissom's death was ironic because NASA wanted to prevent another Liberty Bell 7-type accident. Although North American, the contractor, wished to include a swing-out style door to facilitate easy escape, NASA voted for a swing-in style for the door.
[edit] Death
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. Despite repeated requests from his widow Betty May Grissom and other members of his family, no independent inquiry has ever been carried out into the Apollo 1 incident and its exact cause remains unknown. Grissom is buried at Arlington National Cemetery.
[edit] Honors and awards
- Posthumously awarded the Congressional Space Medal of Honor
- Posthumously made Honorary Mayor of the City of Newport News, Virginia
- Distinguished Flying Cross for his service in Korea
- Air Medal with cluster for his service in Korea
- Two NASA Distinguished Service Medals
- The NASA Exceptional Service Medal
- The Air Force Command Astronaut Wings
- Honorary Doctorate, Florida Institute of Technology
[edit] Memorials
Virgil I. Grissom High School [1], in Huntsville, Alabama, is named after him. Huntsville, also known as "Rocket City" is a large center for space technology and rocket development, and several of the schools are named after others who died in the space program. Grissom is also honored in his hometown of Mitchell with a small museum, which includes his Gemini 3 spacecraft and flight suit, and a limestone carving of the Titan II rocket that launched the Gemini flight. The memorial is located in Spring Mill State Park, while the carving is in downtown Mitchell.
An artificial island in Long Beach Harbor off Southern California, is also named for him.
- Grissom Air Reserve Base in Bunker Hill, Indiana is named after him.
- The Virgil I. Grissom Library in the Denbigh section of Newport News, Virginia is named after him.
- The Virgil Grissom Elementary in Princeton, Iowa is named after him.
- The Virgil Grissom High School in Huntsville, Alabama is named after him.
- The Virgil I. Grissom Middle School in Mishawaka, Indiana is named after him.
- Virgil I. Grissom Middle School 226 in South Ozone Park, Queens, New York is named after him.
- The Virgil I. Grissom Middle School in Tinley Park, Illinois is named after him.
- The Virgil I. Grissom Elementary School in Hegewisch, Illinois is named after him.
- The Virgil I. Grissom Middle School in Sterling Heights, Michigan is named after him.
- The Grissom Elementary School in the Tulsa, Oklahoma Public School District.
- The Gus Grissom Stakes is a thoroughbred horse race run annually in the fall at Hoosier Park in Anderson, Indiana.
- The Virgil I. Grissom School No. 7 in Rochester, New York 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, an engineering building 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.
- Grissom Dining Facility in Misawa Air Base Japan 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.[2]
- Gus Grissom is the Class Exemplar of the United States Air Force Academy's class of 2007.
- Marina Grissom (a landmark on the moon)
[edit] Film and television
Grissom appears in a scene in the film "Air Cadet"(1951)- starring Richard Long and Rock Hudson . His appearance is early in the film,as a U.S. Air Force candidate for flight school at Randolph Field, San Antonio, Texas.
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.[citation needed] 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.
William Petersen named his television character on CSI: Crime Scene Investigation after Grissom.
[edit] References
- ^ http://www.hq.nasa.gov/office/pao/History/SP-4203/ch10-2.htm
- ^ http://www.space.com/spacewatch/star_names_030829.html
- Gus Grissom. Biographical data at the Johnson Space Center. Retrieved on March 29, 2005.
- Gus Grissom. Detailed Biographies of Apollo I Crew. Retrieved on March 29, 2005.
- Astronaut Memorial Foundation webpage
- Florida Institute of Technology - Walking Tour - Challenger Memorial
- Florida Today, August 17, 2004
[edit] External links
- Grissom Air Reserve Base
- Apollo Burning, a tribute to the Apollo 1 astronauts
- NASA biography
- Spacefacts biography of Gus Grissom
- Roadside America review of Grissom Museum
Categories: Articles with unsourced statements since February 2007 | All articles with unsourced statements | American astronauts | Space program fatalities | United States Air Force officers | Air Force Institute of Technology alumni | Recipients of US Distinguished Flying Cross | Lawrence County, Indiana | People from Indiana | Burials at Arlington National Cemetery | 1926 births | 1967 deaths
