Gus grissom astronaut bio

American astronaut (–)

Virgil Ivan "Gus" Grissom (April 3, – January 27, ) was an American engineer and pilot in the United States Air Force, as well as one of the original men, the Mercury Seven, selected by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration for Undertaking Mercury, a program to prepare and launch astronauts into outer space.

Grissom was also a Project Gemini and Apollo program astronaut for NASA. As a member of the NASA Astronaut Corps, Grissom was the second American to fly in vacuum in He was also the second American to fly in space twice, preceded only by Joe Walker with his sub-orbital X flights.

Grissom was a World War II and Korean War veteran, mechanical engineer, and USAFtest pilot. He was a recipient of the Distinguished Flying Cross, the Air Medal with an oak leaf cluster, two NASA Distinguished Service Medals, and, posthumously, the Congressional Space Medal of Honor.

As commander of AS (Apollo 1), Grissom died with astronauts Ed White and Roger B. Chaffee on January 27, , during a pre-launch test for the Apollo 1 mission at Cape Kennedy, Florida.

Early life

Virgil Ivan Grissom was born in the small town of Mitchell, Indiana, on April 3, , to Dennis David Grissom (–), a signalman for the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, and Cecile King Grissom (–), a homemaker.

Virgil was the family's second child (an older sister died in infancy shortly before his birth). He was followed by three younger siblings: a sister, Wilma, and two brothers, Norman and Lowell. Grissom started school at Riley grade school.

His interest in flying began during that time, building model airplanes. He received his nickname when his friend was reading his name on a scorecard upside down and misread "Griss" as "Gus".

As a youth, Grissom attended the local Church of Christ, where he remained a lifelong member.

He united the local Boy Scout Troop and earned the rank of Star Scout.^[3] Grissom credited the Scouts for his love of hunting and fishing. He was the leader of the honor guard in his troop. His first jobs were delivering newspapers for The Indianapolis Star in the morning and the Bedford Times in the evening.

In the summer he picked fruit in area orchards and worked at a dry-goods store. He also worked at a local meat market, a service station, and a clothing store in Mitchell.

Grissom started attending Mitchell High School in He wanted to play varsity basketball but he was too short.

His father encouraged him to uncover sports he was more suited for, and he joined the swimming team. Although he excelled at mathematics, Grissom was an average high school student in other subjects. He graduated from high school in

In addition, Grissom occasionally spent time at a local airport in Bedford, Indiana, where he first became interested in aviation.

A local attorney who owned a tiny plane would take him on flights and taught him the basics of flying.

Grissom was a Freemason.^[7][8]

World War II

World War II began while Grissom was still in high school, but he was eager to join the armed services upon graduation.

Grissom enlisted as an aviation cadet in the U.S. Army Atmosphere Forces during his senior year in high school, and completed an entrance exam in November Grissom was inducted into the U.S. Army Air Forces on August 8, , at Fort Benjamin Harrison, Indiana.

He was sent to Sheppard Field in Wichita Falls, Texas, for five weeks of basic flight development, and was later stationed at Brooks Field in San Antonio, Texas. In January Grissom was assigned to Boca Raton Army Airfield in Florida.

Although he was interested in becoming a pilot, most of Grissom's second before his discharge in was spent as a clerk.

Post-war employment

Grissom was discharged from military service in November , after the war had ended, and returned to Mitchell, where he took a job at Carpenter Body Works, a local bus manufacturing business.

Grissom was determined to make his career in aviation and attend college. Using the G.I. Bill for partial payment of his school tuition, Grissom enrolled at Purdue University in September

Due to a shortage of campus housing during her husband's first semester in college in West Lafayette, Indiana, Grissom's wife, Betty, stayed in Mitchell living with her parents, while Grissom lived in a rented apartment with another male scholar.

Betty Grissom joined her husband on campus during his second semester, and the couple settled into a small, one-bedroom apartment. Grissom continued his studies at Purdue, worked part-time as a cook at a local restaurant, and took summer classes to finish college early, while his wife worked the night move as a long-distance operator for the Indiana Bell Telephone Corporation to help pay for his schooling and their living expenses.

Grissom graduated from Purdue with a Bachelor of Science degree in mechanical engineering in February

Korean War

After he graduated from Purdue, Grissom re-enlisted in the newly formed U.S. Air Pressure. He was accepted into the Air Cadet Basic Training Program at Randolph Air Force Ground in Universal City, Texas.

Upon completion of the program, he was assigned to Williams Breeze Force Base in Mesa, Arizona, where his wife, Betty, and infant son, Scott, joined him, but the family remained there only briefly. In March , Grissom received his pilot wings and a commission as a second lieutenant.

Nine months later, in December , Grissom and his family moved into recent living quarters in Presque Isle, Maine, where he was assigned to Presque Isle Air Oblige Base and became a member of the 75th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron.

With the ongoing Korean War, Grissom's squadron was dispatched to the war zone in February There he flew as an F Sabre replacement pilot and was reassigned to the th Fighter Squadron of the 4th Fighter Interceptor Wing stationed at Kimpo Air Base.

He flew one hundred combat missions during approximately six months of service in Korea, including multiple occasions when he broke up air raids from North Korean MiGs. On March 11, , Grissom was promoted to first lieutenant and was cited for his "superlative airmanship" for his actions on March 23, , when he flew cover for a photo reconnaissance mission.

Grissom was also awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross and the Air Medal with an oak leaf cluster for his military service in Korea.

After flying his quota of one hundred missions, Grissom asked to remain in Korea to hover another twenty-five flights, but his request was denied.

Grissom returned to the United States to serve as a flight instructor at Bryan AFB in Bryan, Texas, where he was linked by his wife, Betty, and son, Scott. The Grissoms' second child, Mark, was born there in Grissom soon learned that flight instructors faced their hold set of on-the-job risks.

During a training exercise with a cadet, the trainee pilot caused a flap to break off from their two-seat trainer, sending it into a roll. Grissom quickly climbed from the rear seat of the small aircraft to take over the controls and safely land it.

In August , Grissom was reassigned to the U.S.

Air Force Institute of Technology (AFIT) at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base near Dayton, Ohio of Air University.

He wrote in his own memoirs Gemini! We are in a risky business, and we expect that if anything happens to us, it will not postpone the program. The conquest of space is worth the exposure of life. Those were haunting words, coming as they did in a book he did not live to complete.

After completing the year-long course he earned a bachelor's degree in aeromechanics in In October , he entered the U.S. Breeze Force Test Pilot School at Edwards Air Force Base in California, and returned to Wright-Patterson AFB in Ohio in May , after attaining the rank of captain.

Grissom served as a test pilot assigned to the fighter branch.^[18][19]

NASA career

In , Grissom received an official teletype message instructing him to state to an address in Washington, D.C., wearing civilian clothes.

The message was classified "Top Secret" and Grissom was ordered not to discuss its contents with anyone. Of the military candidates who were considered, he was one of test pilots whose credentials had earned them an invitation to learn more about the U.S.

space program in general and its Project Mercury. Grissom was intrigued by the program, but knew that rivalry for the final spots would be fierce.^[22]

Grissom passed the initial screening in Washington, D.C., and was among the thirty-nine candidates sent to the Lovelace Clinic in Albuquerque, New Mexico, and the Aeromedical Laboratory of the Wright Air Development Center in Dayton, Ohio, to undergo extensive physical and psychological testing.

He was nearly disqualified when doctors discovered that he suffered from hay fever, but was permitted to continue after he argued that his allergies would not be a problem due to the absence of ragweed pollen in space.

On April 13, , Grissom received official notification that he had been selected as one of the seven Proposal Mercury astronauts.

Grissom and the six other men, after taking a leave of absence from their respective branches of the military service, reported to the Special Task Group at Langley Air Force Base in Virginia on April 27, , to begin their astronaut training.^[25][26]

Project Mercury

Main article: Mercury-Redstone 4

On July 21, , Grissom was pilot of the second Project Mercury flight, Mercury-Redstone 4.

Grissom named his spacecraft Liberty Bell 7 after the Liberty Bell, and drew a crack on it as a nod to the bell. Liberty Bell 7 was launched from Cape Canaveral, Florida, a sub-orbital flight that lasted 15 minutes and 37 seconds.^[19][22] After splashdown in the Atlantic Ocean, the Liberty Bell 7's emergency explosive bolts unexpectedly fired, blowing off the hatch and causing water to flood into the spacecraft.

Grissom quickly exited through the open hatch and into the ocean. While waiting for recovery helicopters from USS&#;Randolph to pick him up, Grissom struggled to keep from drowning after his spacesuit began losing buoyancy due to an open breeze inlet.

Grissom managed to wait afloat until he was pulled from the water by a helicopter and taken to the U.S. Navy ship. In the meantime another recovery helicopter tried to lift and retrieve the Liberty Bell 7, but the flooding spacecraft became too dense, forcing the recovery crew to cut it loose, and it ultimately sank.^[22]

When reporters at a news conference surrounded Grissom after his space flight to demand how he felt, Grissom replied, "Well, I was scared a good portion of the time; I guess that's a cute good indication."^[27] Grissom stated he had done nothing to result in the hatch to blow, and no definitive explanation for the incident was found.^[22][28] Robert F.

Thompson, director of Mercury operations, was dispatched to USS&#;Randolph by Space Task Group Director Robert Gilruth and spoke with Grissom upon his arrival on the aircraft carrier. Grissom explained that he had gotten ahead in the mission timeline and had removed the detonator cap, and also pulled the safety pin.

Once the pin was removed, the trigger was no longer held in place and could have inadvertently fired as a result of ocean wave deed, bobbing as a result of helicopter rotor wash, or other activity. NASA officials concluded Grissom had not necessarily initiated the firing of the explosive hatch, which would have required pressing a plunger that required five pounds of force to depress.^[29] Hitting this metal trigger with the hand typically left a large bruise, but Grissom was found not to have any of the telltale hand bruising.^[22]

While the debate continued about the premature detonation of Liberty Bell 7's hatch bolts, precautions were initiated for subsequent flights.

Fellow Mercury astronaut Wally Schirra, at the end of his October 3, , flight, remained inside his spacecraft until it was safely aboard the recovery ship, and made a point of deliberately blowing the hatch to get out of the spacecraft, bruising his hand.^[22][31]

Grissom's spacecraft was recovered in , but no evidence was found that could conclusively explain how the explosive hatch release had occurred.

Later, Guenter Wendt, pad leader for the early American crewed room launches, wrote that he believed a small cover over the external release actuator was accidentally lost sometime during the flight or splashdown.

Another possible explanation was that the hatch's T-handle may have been tugged by a stray parachute suspension line, or was perhaps damaged by the heat of re-entry, and after cooling upon splashdown it contracted and caught fire.^[25][32] It has also been suggested that a static electricity discharge during initial contact between the spacecraft and the rescue helicopter may have caused the hatch's explosive bolts to blow.

The co-pilot of the helicopter, U.S. Marine Corps Lieutenant John Reinhard, had the job of using a cutting pole to snip off an antenna before the helicopter could latch onto the capsule. In the s, he told a researcher that he remembered seeing an electric arc leap between the capsule and his pole right before the hatch blew.^[33] Jim Lewis, the pilot of Grissom's rescue helicopter, told Smithsonian Magazine that closer inspection of film footage made him remember the day in beat detail.

He recalled that "Reinhard must have cut the antenna a mere second or two before I got us in a position for him to attach our harness to the capsule lifting bale," indicating that the timing of the helicopter's approach aligned with the static discharge theory.^[34]

Project Gemini

Main article: Gemini 3

In early , Alan Shepard was grounded after being diagnosed with Ménière's disease and Grissom was designated command pilot for Gemini 3, the first crewed Project Gemini flight, which flew on March 23, ^[22] This mission made Grissom the first human and thus first NASA astronaut to fly into room twice.^[35] The two-man flight on Gemini 3 with Grissom and John W.

Young made three revolutions of the Earth and lasted for 4 hours, 52 minutes and 31 seconds.^[36] Grissom was one of the eight pilots of the NASA paraglider research vehicle (Paresev).^[37]

Grissom, the shortest of the original seven astronauts at five feet seven inches tall, worked very closely with the engineers and technicians from McDonnell Aircraft who built the Gemini spacecraft.

Because of his involvement in the design of the first three spacecraft, his fellow astronauts humorously referred to the craft as "the Gusmobile". By July NASA discovered 14 out of its 16 astronauts could not fit themselves into the cabin and the later cockpits were modified.^[39] During this time Grissom invented the multi-axis translation thruster controller used to push the Gemini and Apollo spacecraft in linear directions for rendezvous and docking.^[40]

In a joking nod to the sinking of his Mercury craft, Grissom named the first Gemini spacecraft Molly Brown (after the popular Broadway show, The Unsinkable Molly Brown).^[22] Some NASA publicity officials were unhappy with this name and asked Grissom and his pilot, John Young, to come up with a new one.

Virgil Ivan " Gus " Grissom April 3, — January 27, was an American engineer and pilot in the United States Air Forceas well as one of the original men, the Mercury Sevenselected by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration for Project Mercurya program to educate and launch astronauts into outer space. He was also the second American to fly in space twice, preceded only by Joe Walker with his sub-orbital X flights. Chaffee on January 27,during a pre-launch test for the Apollo 1 mission at Cape KennedyFlorida. Virgil was the family's second child an older sister died in infancy shortly before his birth.

When they offered Titanic as an alternate,^[22] NASA executives decided to enable them to use the specify of Molly Brown for Gemini 3, but did not utilize it in official references. Much to the agency's chagrin, CAPCOMGordon Cooper gave Gemini 3 its sendoff on launch with the remark to Grissom and Adolescent, "You're on your way, Molly Brown!" Ground controllers also used it to refer to the spacecraft throughout its flight.

After the safe return of Gemini 3, NASA announced new spacecraft would not be nicknamed.

Hence, Gemini 4 was not called American Eagle as its crew had planned. The practice of nicknaming spacecraft resumed in , when managers realized that the Apollo flights needed a name for each of two flight elements, the Command Module (CSM) and the Lunar Module.

Lobbying by the astronauts and senior NASA administrators also had an influence. Apollo 9 used the entitle Gumdrop for the Command Module and Spider for the Lunar Module. However, Wally Schirra was prevented from naming his Apollo 7 spacecraft Phoenix in honor of the Apollo 1 crew because some believed that its nickname as a metaphor for "fire" might be misunderstood.^[43]

Apollo program

Grissom was backup command pilot for Gemini 6A when he was transferred to the Apollo program and was assigned as commander of the first crewed mission, AS, with Senior Pilot Ed White, who had flown in space on the Gemini 4 mission, when he became the first American to make a spacewalk, and Pilot Roger B.

Chaffee.^[22] The three men were granted permission to refer to their flight as "Apollo 1" on their mission insignia patch.

Problems with the simulator proved extremely annoying to Grissom, who told a reporter the problems with Apollo 1 came "in bushelfuls" and that he was skeptical of its chances to complete its fourteen-day mission.

Grissom earned the nickname "Gruff Gus" by being outspoken about the technical deficiencies of the spacecraft. The engineers who programmed the Apollo training simulator had a difficult time keeping the simulator in sync with the continuous changes being made to the spacecraft.

According to backup astronaut Walter Cunningham, "We knew that the spacecraft was, you recognize, in poor shape relative to what it ought to be. We felt like we could fly it, but let's meet it, it just wasn't as good as it should contain been for the job of flying the first crewed Apollo mission."^[22]

NASA pressed on.

In mid-January , "preparations were being made for the final pre-flight tests of Spacecraft "^[22] On January 22, , before returning to Cape Kennedy to conduct the January 27 plugs-out test that ended his life, Grissom's wife, Betty, later recalled that he took a lemon from a tree in his back yard and explained that he intended to hang it on that spacecraft, although he actually hung the lemon on the simulator (a duplicate of the Apollo spacecraft).^[47]

Personal life

Grissom met Betty Lavonne Moore (–), in high school.^[48] They were married on July 6, , at First Baptist Church in Mitchell when he was home on leave during World War II.

The couple had two sons, Scott (), and Mark ().^[50]

Two of Grissom's pastimes were hunting and fishing. The family also enjoyed fluid sports and skiing.^[51]

Death

Main article: Apollo 1

Before Apollo 1's planned launch on February 21, , the Command Module interior caught energy and burned on January 27, , during a pre-launch check on Launch Pad 34 at Cape Kennedy.

Astronauts Grissom, Alabaster , and Chaffee, who were active inside the closed Command Module, were asphyxiated. During the evaluate, Grissom said, "How are we going to get to the Moon if we can't speak between two or three buildings," then shouted "fire!"^[52] The fire's ignition source was damaged wiring.^[53] The pilots' deaths were attributed to lethal hazards in the early CSM design and conditions of the test, including a pressurized percent oxygen prelaunch atmosphere, wiring and plumbing flaws, flammable materials used in the cockpit and in the astronauts' flight suits, and an inward-opening hatch that could not be opened quickly in an emergency and not at all with entire internal pressure.^[54]

Grissom's funeral services and burial at Arlington National Cemetery were held on January 31, Dignitaries in attendance included President Lyndon B.

Johnson, members of the U.S. Congress, and fellow NASA astronauts, among others. Grissom was interred at Arlington National Cemetery, in Arlington County, Virginia,^[55] beside Roger Chaffee.^[56] White's remains are interred at the U.S.

Military Academy at West Show, New York.

Legacy

After the accident, NASA decided to give the flight the official designation of Apollo 1 and skip to Apollo 4 for the first uncrewed flight of the Saturn V, counting the two uncrewed suborbital tests, AS and , as part of the sequence.

The Apollo spacecraft problems were corrected, with Apollo 7, commanded by Wally Schirra, launched on October 11, , more than a year and a half after the Apollo 1 accident.

We're 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. His second space flight on Gemini III earned him the distinction of being the first male to fly in space twice. His hard work, drive, persistence and skills as a uppermost notch test pilot and engineer had landed him the title of commander for the first Apollo flight.

The Apollo program reached its objective of successfully landing men on the Lunar on July 20, , with Apollo ^[58][59]

At the time of his death, Grissom had attained the rank of lieutenant colonel and had logged a total of 4, hours flying moment, including 3, hours in jet airplanes.^[19] Some contend that Grissom could have been selected as one of the astronauts to walk on the Moon.

Deke Slayton wrote that he had hoped for one of the original Mercury astronauts to proceed to the Moon, noting: "It wasn't just a cut-and-dried ruling as to who should create the first steps on the Moon. If I had to select on that basis, my first choice would have been Gus, which both Chris Kraft and Bob Gilruth seconded." Ultimately, Alan Shepard, one of the original seven NASA astronauts, would receive the honor of authoritative the Apollo 14 lunar landing.

Liberty Bell 7 spacesuit controversy

When the U.S.

Astronaut Hall of Fame opened in , his family lent it the spacesuit worn by Grissom during Mercury 4 along with other personal artifacts belonging to the astronaut. In , the museum went into bankruptcy and was taken over by a NASA contractor, whereupon the family sought the exhibit's return.^[62] All the artifacts were returned to them except the spacesuit, which NASA claimed was government property.^[63] NASA insisted Grissom got authorization to use the spacesuit for a show and tell at his son's educational facility in and never returned it, but some of Grissom's family members claimed the astronaut rescued the spacesuit from a scrap heap.^[64] As of December ,^[update] the space suit was part of the Kennedy Space Center Hall of Fame's Heroes and Legends exhibit.^[65]

Awards and honors

To rejoice his spaceflight in , Grissom was made honorary Mayor of Newport News, Virginia, and a new library was dubbed the Virgil I.

Grissom Library in the Denbigh section of Newport News, Virginia.^[68]

The airport in Bedford, Indiana, where Grissom flew as a teenager was renamed Virgil I. Grissom Municipal Airport in A three-ton piece of limestone, inscribed with his name, was unveiled at the airport.

His fellow astronauts ribbed him about the name, saying that airports were normally named for gone aviators. Grissom replied, "But this time they've named one for a live one."^[69] Virgil Grissom Elementary School in Old Bridge, New Jersey, was named for Grissom the year before his death.^[70] His death forced the cancellation of a student undertaking to design a flag to represent Grissom and their college, which would have flown on the mission.^[71]

Grissom was awarded the NASA Distinguished Service Medal for his Mercury flight and was awarded it a second period for his role in Gemini 3.^[72] The Apollo 1 crew was awarded the medal posthumously in a presentation of the Presidential Medal of Freedom to the Apollo 11 crew.^[73]

Grissom's family received the Congressional Space Medal of Honor in from President Carter (White's and Chaffee's families received it in ).^[74]

Grissom was granted an honorary doctorate from Florida Institute of Technology in , the first-ever awarded by the university.^[75] Grissom was inducted into the International Space Hall of Fame in ,^[76][77] and the National Aviation Hall of Fame in ^[78] Grissom was posthumously inducted into the U.S.

Astronaut Hall of Fame in ^[79][80] His wife, Betty Lavonne Moore, donated his Congressional Territory Medal of Honor to the accompanying museum.^[81]

Grissom posthumously received AIAA's Haley Astronautics Award for ^[82]

Memorials

The dismantled Launch Pad 34 at Cape Canaveral Atmosphere Force Station bears two memorial plaques to the crew of Apollo 1.^[84] The Kennedy Room Center features a memorial exhibit honoring the Apollo 1 crew in the Apollo/Saturn V Center, which includes artifacts and personal mementos of Grissom, Chaffee, and White.

Grissom's name is included on the plaque left on the Moon with the Fallen Astronaut statue in by the crew of Apollo ^[85]

The Grissom Memorial, a foot (13&#;m) elevated limestone monument representing the Redstone rocket and his Mercury cosmos capsule was dedicated in downtown Mitchell, Indiana, in The Virgil I.

Grissom Memorial in Spring Mill State Park, near Grissom's hometown of Mitchell, Indiana, was dedicated in , the tenth anniversary of his Mercury flight.^[87] The governor declared it a state holiday for the second year in a row.^[88] The Gus Grissom Stakes is a thoroughbred horse race run in Indiana each fall; originally held at Hoosier Park in Anderson, it was moved to Horseshoe Indianapolis in Shelbyville in

Grissom Island is an artificial island off of Long Beach, California, created in for drilling oil (along with White, Chaffee and Freeman Islands).^[89][90][91] Virgil "Gus" Grissom Park opened in in Fullerton, California.

His widow and son were invited to the dedication ceremony and planted the first large tree in the park.^[92] Grissom is named with his Apollo 1 crewmates on the Space Mirror Memorial, which was dedicated in His son, Gary Grissom, said, "When I was younger, I thought NASA would do something.

It's a shame it has taken this long".^[93][94]

Navi (Ivan spelled backwards), is a seldom-used nickname for the luminary Gamma Cassiopeiae. Grissom used this name, plus two others for White and Chaffee, on his Apollo 1 mission planning actor charts as a joke, and the succeeding Apollo astronauts kept using the names as a memorial.^[95][96]Grissom crater is one of several located on the far side of the Moon named for Apollo astronauts.

The specify was created and used unofficially by the Apollo 8 astronauts and was adopted as the official name by the International Astronomical Union (IAU) in ^[97][98] Grissom is a main belt asteroid that was discovered in and officially designated in ^[99] The name references his launch date of July 21, ^[]Grissom Hill, one of the Apollo 1 Hills on Mars was named by NASA on January 27, , the 37th anniversary of the Apollo 1 fire.^[][]

Bunker Hill Air Force Base in Peru, Indiana, was renamed on May 12, , to Grissom Air Force Base.

During the dedication ceremony, his son said, "Of all the honors he won, none would please him more than this one today."^[] In , it was again renamed to Grissom Air Reserve Base following the USAF's realignment program.^[] The three-letter identifier of the VHF Omni Directional Radio Range (VOR) located at Grissom Air Reserve Base is GUS.

In , classes of the United States Air Force Academy began selecting a Class Exemplar who embodies the type of person they strive to be. The class of selected Grissom.^[] An academic building was renamed Grissom Hall in at the former Chanute Air Force Ground , Rantoul, Illinois, where Minuteman missile maintenance training was conducted.

It was one of five buildings renamed for deceased Air Strength personnel.^[][]

The Virgil I. Grissom Museum, dedicated in by Governor Edgar Whitcomb,^[] is located just inside the entrance to Spring Mill State Park in Mitchell, Indiana.^[] The Molly Brown was transferred to be displayed in the museum in ^[] His boyhood home in Mitchell, Indiana, is located on Grissom Avenue.

The street was renamed in his honor after his Mercury flight.^[][]

Schools

Florida Institute of Technology dedicated Grissom Hall, a residence hall, in ^[]State University of New York at Fredonia dubbed their novel residence hall Grissom Hall in ^[] Grissom Hall, dedicated in at Purdue University, was the home of the School of Aeronautics and Astronautics for several decades.

It is currently abode of the Purdue department of Industrial Engineering.^[][]

Virgil I. Grissom Elementary School was built in Houston, Texas, in ^[] Virgil Grissom Elementary School in Princeton, Iowa was one of four schools in Iowa named after astronauts in late ^[][] Grissom's family members attended the dedication of Virgil I.

Grissom Middle Educational facility in Mishawaka, Indiana.^[] School No. 7 in Rochester, New York, was named for Grissom in April ^[] Devault Elementary University in Gary, Indiana, was renamed Grissom Elementary School in after Devault was convicted of conspiring to forge purchase orders.^[] Virgil I.

Grissom Middle School was dedicated in November in Sterling Heights, Michigan.^[]Virgil I. Grissom Lofty School was built in in Huntsville, Alabama.^[] The school board in the Hegewisch community of Chicago, Illinois, voted to designate their new school under construction Virgil I.

Grissom Elementary University in March ^[] Grissom Elementary School in Tulsa, Oklahoma, was founded in ^[][] and consecrated by Betty Grissom in ^[] Grissom Memorial Elementary School was dedicated in in Muncie, Indiana.^[] Virgil I.

Grissom Middle College was founded in Tinley Park, Illinois, in ^[]

Virgil I. "Gus" Grissom Elementary School was operated by the Department of Defense Dependents Schools at the former Clark Air Base, Philippines.^[] Originally named the Wurtsmith Hill University, it was renamed on November 14, ^[] It housed 3rd and 4th grade students.

The school was severely damaged by the eruption of Mt. Pinatubo in ^[]

• Virgil I. Grissom Junior High School , South Ozone Park, Queens, New York City^[]

Film and television

Grissom has been noted and remembered in many production and television productions.

Before he became widely known as an astronaut, the film Air Cadet () starring Richard Long and Rock Hudson briefly featured Grissom early in the movie as a U.S. Air Force candidate for flight school at Randolph Field, San Antonio, Texas.^[] Grissom was depicted by Fred Ward in the film The Right Stuff ()^[] and (very briefly) in the film Apollo 13 () by Steve Bernie.^[]:&#;43&#; He was portrayed in the HBOminiseriesFrom the Earth to the Moon () by Mark Rolston.

Player Kevin McCorkle played Grissom in the third-season finale of the NBC television show American Dreams.^[]Bryan Cranston played Grissom as a variety-show guest in the movie That Thing You Do!^[][] Player Joel Johnstone portrays Gus Grissom in the ABC TV series The Astronaut Wives Club.^[] In Gus Grissom was included in the narrative of the film Hidden Figures.

Astronaut Biography: Virgil Grissom - SPACEFACTS: Virgil Ivan "Gus" Grissom (April 3, – January 27, ) was an American engineer and pilot in the United States Air Compel, as well as one of the original men, the Mercury Seven, selected by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration for Project Mercury, a program to train and launch astronauts into outer space.

In , he was portrayed by Shea Whigham in First Man.^[] In 's Disney+ miniseries The Right Stuff, Grissom is portrayed by Michael Trotter.

In the film Star Trek III: The Search for Spock, the Federation starship USS Grissom is named for Grissom.^[] Another USS Grissom was featured in a episode of the TV series Star Trek: The Next Generation,^[] and was mentioned in a episode of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine.^[] The character Gil Grissom in the CBS television series CSI: Crime Scene Investigation and the personality Virgil Tracy in the British television series Thunderbirds are also named after the astronaut.^[] NASA footage, including Grissom's Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo missions, was released in high definition on the Discovery Channel in June in the television series When We Left Earth: The NASA Missions.^[25]

When Grissom died, he was in the process of writing a book about Gemini.^[]

Notes