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Revision as of 21:48, 5 January 2007

Virgil Ivan "Gus" Grissom
NationalityAmerican
OccupationTest pilot
Space career
Astronaut
RankLieutenant Colonel, USAF
Time in space5h 7m
Selection1959 NASA Group
MissionsMercury-Redstone 4, Gemini 3, Apollo 1
Mission insignia

Virgil Ivan "Gus" Grissom (April 3, 1926 – January 27, 1967) was a United States Air Force pilot who became the second American astronaut and one of the first to die in the U.S. space program. He was also the first NASA Astronaut to fly a second mission, as well as the first man to fly twice above the accepted boundary of space in a capsule-based spacecraft.

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.

Career

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.

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, 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.

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.

Trivia

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.

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.

Honors and awards

Memorials

Virgil I. Grissom High School , 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.

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.

William Petersen named his television character on CSI: Crime Scene Investigation after Grissom.

References

  1. http://www.hq.nasa.gov/office/pao/History/SP-4203/ch10-2.htm
  2. http://www.space.com/spacewatch/star_names_030829.html

External links

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