Gus Grissom | |
|---|---|
_Grissom_portrait.jpg) Grissom in 1964 | |
| Born | Virgil Ivan Grissom (1926-04-03)April 3, 1926 Mitchell, Indiana, U.S. |
| Died | January 27, 1967(1967-01-27) (aged 40) Cape Canaveral, Florida, U.S. |
| Resting place | Arlington National Cemetery |
| Education | Purdue University (BS) Air University (BS) |
| Spouse | |
| Children | 2 |
| Awards | |
| Space career | |
| NASA astronaut | |
| Rank | Lieutenant Colonel,USAF |
Time in space | 5h 7m |
| Selection | NASA Group 1 (1959) |
| Missions | |
Mission insignia |    |
Virgil Ivan "Gus"Grissom (April 3, 1926 – January 27, 1967) was an American engineer and pilot in theUnited States Air Force, as well as one of the originalMercury Seven selected by theNational Aeronautics and Space Administration forProject Mercury, a program to train and launch astronauts intoouter space. Grissom went on to be aProject Gemini andApollo program astronaut for NASA. As a member of theNASA Astronaut Corps, Grissom was the second American to fly in space in 1961. He was also the second American to fly in space twice, preceded only byJoe Walker with his sub-orbitalX-15 flights.
Grissom was aWorld War II andKorean War veteran, mechanical engineer, andUSAFtest pilot. He was a recipient of theDistinguished Flying Cross, theAir Medal with anoak leaf cluster, twoNASA Distinguished Service Medals, and, posthumously, theCongressional Space Medal of Honor.
As commander ofAS-204 (Apollo 1), Grissom died with astronautsEd White andRoger B. Chaffee on January 27, 1967, during a pre-launch test for the Apollo 1 mission atCape Kennedy, Florida.
Virgil Ivan Grissom was born in the small town ofMitchell, Indiana, on April 3, 1926,[1] to Dennis David Grissom, a signalman for theBaltimore and Ohio Railroad, and Cecile King Grissom, a homemaker. Virgil was the family's second child; his older sister, Lena, died a year prior to Gus' birth. He was followed by three younger siblings: a sister, Wilma, and two brothers, Norman and Lowell.[2] Grissom started school at Riley grade school. His interest in flying began during that time, building model airplanes.[1] He received his nickname when his friend was reading his name on a scorecard upside down and misread "Griss" as "Gus".[1]
As a youth, Grissom attended the localChurch of Christ, where he remained a lifelong member. He joined the localBoy Scout Troop and earned the rank ofStar Scout.[3] Grissom credited the Scouts for his love of hunting and fishing. He was the leader of the honor guard in his troop.[4] His first jobs were delivering newspapers forThe Indianapolis Star in the morning and theBedford Times in the evening.[1] In the summer he picked fruit in area orchards and worked at a dry-goods store.[4] He also worked at a local meat market, a service station, and a clothing store in Mitchell.
Grissom started attendingMitchell High School in 1940.[4] He wanted to play varsity basketball but he was too short. His father encouraged him to find sports he was more suited for, and he joined the swimming team.[4] Although he excelled at mathematics, Grissom was an average high school student in other subjects.[5] He graduated from high school in 1944.
In addition, Grissom occasionally spent time at a local airport inBedford, Indiana, where he first became interested in aviation. A local attorney who owned a small plane would take him on flights and taught him the basics of flying.[6]
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 anaviation cadet in theU.S. Army Air Forces during his senior year in high school, and completed an entrance exam in November 1943. Grissom was inducted into the U.S. Army Air Forces on August 8, 1944, atFort Benjamin Harrison, Indiana. He was sent toSheppard Field inWichita Falls, Texas, for five weeks of basic flight training, and was later stationed atBrooks Field inSan Antonio, Texas. In January 1945 Grissom was assigned toBoca Raton Army Airfield in Florida. Although he was interested in becoming a pilot, most of Grissom's time before his discharge in 1945 was spent as aclerk.[9]
Grissom was discharged from military service in November 1945, 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 theG.I. Bill for partial payment of his school tuition, Grissom enrolled atPurdue University in September 1946.[10]
Due to a shortage of campus housing during her husband's first semester in college inWest Lafayette, Indiana, Grissom's wife, Betty, stayed in Mitchell living with her parents, while Grissom lived in a rented apartment with another male student. 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 shift as a long-distance operator for the Indiana Bell Telephone Company to help pay for his schooling and their living expenses. Grissom graduated from Purdue with aBachelor of Science degree inmechanical engineering in February 1950.[11]
After he graduated from Purdue, Grissom re-enlisted in the newly formedU.S. Air Force. He was accepted into theAir Cadet Basic Training Program atRandolph Air Force Base inUniversal City, Texas. Upon completion of the program, he was assigned toWilliams Air Force Base inMesa, Arizona, where his wife, Betty, and infant son, Scott, joined him, but the family remained there only briefly. In March 1951, Grissom received hispilot wings and a commission as asecond lieutenant. Nine months later, in December 1951, Grissom and his family moved into new living quarters inPresque Isle, Maine, where he was assigned toPresque Isle Air Force Base and became a member of the75th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron.[12]
With the ongoingKorean War, Grissom's squadron was dispatched to the war zone in February 1952. There he flew as anF-86 Sabre replacement pilot and was reassigned to the334th Fighter Squadron of the4th Fighter Interceptor Wing stationed atKimpo Air Base.[13] He flew one hundredcombat missions during approximately six months of service in Korea, including multiple occasions when he broke up air raids from North KoreanMiGs. On March 11, 1952, Grissom was promoted tofirst lieutenant and was cited for his "superlative airmanship" for his actions on March 23, 1952, when he flew cover for a photo reconnaissance mission.[14] Grissom was also awarded theDistinguished Flying Cross and theAir Medal with anoak leaf cluster for his military service in Korea.[15]
After flying his quota of one hundred missions, Grissom asked to remain in Korea to fly another twenty-five flights, but his request was denied. Grissom returned to the United States to serve as aflight instructor atBryan AFB inBryan, Texas, where he was joined by his wife, Betty, and son, Scott. The Grissoms' second child, Mark, was born there in 1953. Grissom soon learned that flight instructors faced their own 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.[16]
In August 1955, Grissom was reassigned to the U.S.Air Force Institute of Technology (AFIT) atWright-Patterson Air Force Base nearDayton, Ohio ofAir University. After completing the year-long course he earned abachelor's degree inaeromechanics in 1956.[17] In October 1956, he entered theU.S. Air Force Test Pilot School atEdwards Air Force Base in California, and returned to Wright-Patterson AFB inOhio in May 1957, after attaining the rank ofcaptain. Grissom served as atest pilot assigned to the fighter branch.[18][19][20]
In 1959, Grissom received an officialteletype message instructing him to report 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 508 military candidates who were considered, he was one of 110 test pilots whose credentials had earned them an invitation to learn more about the U.S. space program in general and itsProject Mercury. Grissom was intrigued by the program, but knew that competition for the final spots would be fierce.[21][22]
Grissom passed the initial screening in Washington, D.C., and was among the thirty-nine candidates sent to theLovelace Clinic inAlbuquerque, 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 fromhay 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.[23]
On April 13, 1959, Grissom received official notification that he had been selected as one of the seven Project 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 Space Task Group atLangley Air Force Base inVirginia on April 27, 1959, to begin their astronaut training.[24][25][26]
On July 21, 1961, Grissom was pilot of the second Project Mercury flight,Mercury-Redstone 4. Grissom named his spacecraftLiberty Bell 7 after theLiberty Bell, and drew a crack on it as a nod to the bell.Liberty Bell 7 was launched fromCape Canaveral, Florida, asub-orbital flight that lasted 15 minutes and 37 seconds.[19][22] Aftersplashdown in the Atlantic Ocean, theLiberty 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 fromUSS Randolph to pick him up, Grissom struggled to keep from drowning after hisspacesuit began losing buoyancy due to an open air inlet. Grissom managed to stay afloat until he was pulled from the water by a helicopter and taken to theU.S. Navy ship. In the meantime another recovery helicopter tried to lift and retrieve theLiberty Bell 7, but the flooding spacecraft became too heavy, 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 ask how he felt, Grissom replied, "Well, I was scared a good portion of the time; I guess that's a pretty good indication."[27] Grissom stated he had done nothing to cause the hatch to blow, and no definitive explanation for the incident was found.[22][28] Robert F. Thompson, director of Mercury operations, was dispatched toUSS Randolph bySpace Task Group Director Robert Gilruth and spoke with Grissom upon his arrival on the aircraft carrier. Grissom explained that he had got 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 action, 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,[30] but Grissom was found not to have any of the telltale hand bruising.[22]
While the debate continued about the premature detonation ofLiberty Bell 7's hatch bolts, precautions were initiated for subsequent flights. Fellow Mercury astronautWally Schirra, at the end of hisOctober 3, 1962, 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 wasrecovered in 1999, 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 space 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 1990s, he told a researcher that he remembered seeing an electric arc jump between the capsule and his pole right before the hatch blew.[33] Jim Lewis, the pilot of Grissom's rescue helicopter, toldSmithsonian Magazine that closer inspection of film footage made him remember the day in better 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]
In early 1964,Alan Shepard was grounded after being diagnosed withMénière's disease and Grissom was designated command pilot forGemini 3, the first crewedProject Gemini flight, which flew on March 23, 1965.[22] This mission made Grissom the first human and thus firstNASA astronaut to fly into space twice.[35] The two-man flight on Gemini 3 with Grissom andJohn W. Young made three orbits of the Earth and lasted for 4 hours, 52 minutes and 31 seconds.[36] Grissom was one of the eight pilots of the NASAparaglider 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 fromMcDonnell 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 1963 NASA discovered 14 out of its 16 astronauts could not fit themselves into the cabin and the later cockpits were modified.[38][39] During this time Grissom invented the multi-axistranslation thruster controller used to push the Gemini and Apollo spacecraft in linear directions forrendezvous and docking.[40]
In a joking nod to the sinking of his Mercury craft, Grissom named the first Gemini spacecraftMolly 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. When they offeredTitanic as an alternate,[22] NASA executives decided to allow them to use the name ofMolly Brown for Gemini 3, but did not use 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 Young, "You're on your way,Molly Brown!" Ground controllers also used it to refer to the spacecraft throughout its flight.[41]
After the safe return of Gemini 3, NASA announced new spacecraft would not be nicknamed. Hence,Gemini 4 was not calledAmerican Eagle as its crew had planned. The practice of nicknaming spacecraft resumed in 1967, when managers realized that theApollo flights needed a name for each of two flight elements, theCommand Module (CSM) and theLunar Module. Lobbying by the astronauts and senior NASA administrators also had an effect.Apollo 9 used the nameGumdrop for the Command Module andSpider for the Lunar Module.[42] However, Wally Schirra was prevented from naming hisApollo 7 spacecraftPhoenix in honor of theApollo 1 crew because some believed that its nickname as a metaphor for "fire" might be misunderstood.[43]
Grissom was backup command pilot forGemini 6A when he was transferred to theApollo program and was assigned as commander of the first crewed mission,AS-204, with Senior PilotEd White, who had flown in space on the Gemini 4 mission, when he became the first American to make aspacewalk, and PilotRoger 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.[44] Grissom earned the nickname "Gruff Gus" by being outspoken about the technical deficiencies of the spacecraft.[45] 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 astronautWalter Cunningham, "We knew that the spacecraft was, you know, in poor shape relative to what it ought to be. We felt like we could fly it, but let's face it, it just wasn't as good as it should have been for the job of flying the first crewed Apollo mission."[22]
NASA pressed on. In mid-January 1967, "preparations were being made for the final pre-flight tests of Spacecraft 012."[22] On January 22, 1967, before returning toCape 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).[46][47]
Grissom metBetty Lavonne Moore (1927–2018), in high school.[48] They were married on July 6, 1945, at First Baptist Church in Mitchell when he was home on leave duringWorld War II. The couple had two sons, Scott (1950), and Mark (1953).[49][50]
Two of Grissom's pastimes were hunting and fishing. The family also enjoyed water sports and skiing.[51]
Before Apollo 1's planned launch on February 21, 1967, the Command Module interior caught fire and burned on January 27, 1967, during a pre-launch test onLaunch Pad 34 at Cape Kennedy. Astronauts Grissom, White, and Chaffee, who were working inside the closed Command Module, were asphyxiated and died. During the test, Grissom said, "How are we going to get to the Moon if we can't talk 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 100 percentoxygen 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 full internal pressure.[54]
Grissom's funeral services and burial atArlington National Cemetery were held on January 31, 1967. Dignitaries in attendance included PresidentLyndon B. Johnson, members of theU.S. Congress, and fellow NASA astronauts, among others. Grissom was interred atArlington National Cemetery, inArlington County, Virginia,[55] beside Roger Chaffee.[56] White's remains are interred at theU.S. Military Academy atWest Point, New York.[57]
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-201 and202, as part of the sequence. The Apollo spacecraft problems were corrected, withApollo 7, commanded byWally Schirra, launched on October 11, 1968, more than a year and a half after the Apollo 1 accident. The Apollo program reached its objective of successfully landing men on the Moon on July 20, 1969, withApollo 11.[58][59]
At the time of his death, Grissom had attained the rank oflieutenant colonel and had logged a total of 4,600 hours flying time, including 3,500 hours injet 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 go to the Moon, noting: "It wasn't just a cut-and-dried decision as to who should make the first steps on the Moon. If I had to select on that basis, my first choice would have been Gus, which bothChris Kraft andBob Gilruth seconded."[60] Ultimately,Alan Shepard, one of the original seven NASA astronauts, would receive the honor of commanding theApollo 14 lunar landing.[61]
When theU.S. Astronaut Hall of Fame opened in 1990, his family lent it thespacesuit worn by Grissom duringMercury 4 along with other personal artifacts belonging to the astronaut. In 2002, 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 ashow and tell at his son's school in 1965 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 2016,[update] the space suit was part of the Kennedy Space Center Hall of Fame's Heroes and Legends exhibit.[65]
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To celebrate his spaceflight in 1961, Grissom was made honorary Mayor ofNewport 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 1965. 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 dead 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 project to design a flag to represent Grissom and their school, which would have flown on the mission.[71]
Grissom was awarded theNASA Distinguished Service Medal for his Mercury flight and was awarded it a second time for his role in Gemini 3.[72] The Apollo 1 crew was awarded the medal posthumously in a 1969 presentation of thePresidential Medal of Freedom to the Apollo 11 crew.[73]
Grissom's family received theCongressional Space Medal of Honor in 1978 from President Carter (White's and Chaffee's families received it in 1997).[74]
Grissom was granted an honorary doctorate fromFlorida Institute of Technology in 1962, the first-ever awarded by the university.[75] Grissom was inducted into theInternational Space Hall of Fame in 1981,[76][77] and theNational Aviation Hall of Fame in 1987.[78] Grissom was posthumously inducted into theU.S. Astronaut Hall of Fame in 1990.[79][80] His wife,Betty Lavonne Moore, donated his Congressional Space Medal of Honor to the accompanying museum.[81]
Grissom posthumously received AIAA's Haley Astronautics Award for 1968.[82]
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.
The dismantledLaunch Pad 34 atCape Canaveral Air Force Station bears two memorial plaques to the crew of Apollo 1.[84] The Kennedy Space Center features a memorial exhibit honoring the Apollo 1 crew in theApollo/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 theFallen Astronaut statue in 1971 by the crew ofApollo 15.[85]
The Grissom Memorial, a 44-foot (13 m) talllimestone monument representing the Redstone rocket and his Mercury space capsule was dedicated in downtown Mitchell, Indiana, in 1981.[86] The Virgil I. Grissom Memorial inSpring Mill State Park, near Grissom's hometown of Mitchell, Indiana, was dedicated in 1971, the tenth anniversary of his Mercury flight.[86][87] The governor declared it a state holiday for the second year in a row.[88] TheGus Grissom Stakes is a thoroughbred horse race run in Indiana each fall; originally held atHoosier Park inAnderson, it was moved toHorseshoe Indianapolis inShelbyville in 2014.[66]
Grissom Island is anartificial island off of Long Beach, California, created in 1966 for drilling oil (along with White, Chaffee andFreeman Islands).[89][90][91] Virgil "Gus" Grissom Park opened in 1971 inFullerton, 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 theSpace Mirror Memorial, which was dedicated in 1991. 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 starGamma Cassiopeiae. Grissom used this name, plus two others for White and Chaffee, on his Apollo 1 mission planning star 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 name was created and used unofficially by the Apollo 8 astronauts and was adopted as the official name by the International Astronomical Union (IAU) in 1970.[97][98]2161 Grissom is amain belt asteroid that was discovered in 1963 and officially designated in 1981.[99] The name references his launch date of July 21, 1961.[100]Grissom Hill, one of theApollo 1 Hills onMars was named by NASA on January 27, 2004, the 37th anniversary of the Apollo 1 fire.[101][102]
Bunker Hill Air Force Base in Peru, Indiana, was renamed on May 12, 1968, toGrissom 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."[103] In 1994, it was again renamed toGrissom Air Reserve Base following the USAF's realignment program.[104] The three-letter identifier of theVHF Omni Directional Radio Range (VOR) located atGrissom Air Reserve Base is GUS. In 2000, classes of theUnited States Air Force Academy began selecting aClass Exemplar who embodies the type of person they strive to be. The class of 2007 selected Grissom.[105] An academic building was renamed Grissom Hall in 1968 at the formerChanute Air Force Base, Rantoul, Illinois, whereMinuteman missile maintenance training was conducted. It was one of five buildings renamed for deceased Air Force personnel.[106][107]
The Virgil I. Grissom Museum, dedicated in 1971 by GovernorEdgar Whitcomb,[108] is located just inside the entrance toSpring Mill State Park in Mitchell, Indiana.[109] TheMolly Brown was transferred to be displayed in the museum in 1974.[110] His boyhood home in Mitchell, Indiana, is located on Grissom Avenue. The street was renamed in his honor after his Mercury flight.[111][112]
Florida Institute of Technology dedicated Grissom Hall, a residence hall, in 1967.[113]State University of New York at Fredonia dubbed their new residence hall Grissom Hall in 1967.[114] Grissom Hall, dedicated in 1968 atPurdue University, was the home of the School of Aeronautics and Astronautics for several decades. It is currently home of the Purdue department of Industrial Engineering.[115][116]
Virgil I. Grissom Elementary School was built in Houston, Texas, in 1967.[117] Virgil Grissom Elementary School in Princeton, Iowa was one of four schools in Iowa named after astronauts in late 1967.[118][119] Grissom's family members attended the 1968 dedication of Virgil I. Grissom Middle School in Mishawaka, Indiana.[120] School No. 7 in Rochester, New York, was named for Grissom in April 1968.[121] Devault Elementary School in Gary, Indiana, was renamed Grissom Elementary School in 1969 after Devault was convicted of conspiring to forge purchase orders.[122] Virgil I. Grissom Middle School was dedicated in November 1969 in Sterling Heights, Michigan.[123]Virgil I. Grissom High School was built in 1969 in Huntsville, Alabama.[124] The school board in the Hegewisch community of Chicago, Illinois, voted to name their new school under construction Virgil I. Grissom Elementary School in March 1969.[125] Grissom Elementary School in Tulsa, Oklahoma, was founded in 1969[126][127] and dedicated by Betty Grissom in 1970.[128] Grissom Memorial Elementary School was dedicated in 1973 in Muncie, Indiana.[129] Virgil I. Grissom Middle School was founded in Tinley Park, Illinois, in 1975.[130]
Virgil I. "Gus" Grissom Elementary School was operated by the Department of Defense Dependents Schools at the formerClark Air Base, Philippines.[131] Originally named the Wurtsmith Hill School, it was renamed on November 14, 1968.[132] It housed 3rd and 4th grade students. The school was severely damaged by the eruption of Mt. Pinatubo in 1991.[133]
Grissom has been noted and remembered in many film and television productions. Before he became widely known as an astronaut, the filmAir Cadet (1951) starringRichard Long andRock Hudson briefly featured Grissom early in the movie as a U.S. Air Force candidate for flight school atRandolph Field, San Antonio, Texas.[135] Grissom was depicted byFred Ward in the filmThe Right Stuff (1983)[136] and (very briefly) in the filmApollo 13 (1995) by Steve Bernie.[137]: 43 He was portrayed in the 1998HBOminiseriesFrom the Earth to the Moon (1998) byMark Rolston.[138] Actor Kevin McCorkle played Grissom in the third-season finale of theNBC television showAmerican Dreams.[139]Bryan Cranston played Grissom as a variety-show guest in the filmThat Thing You Do![140][141] Actor Joel Johnstone portrays Gus Grissom in the 2015ABC TV seriesThe Astronaut Wives Club.[142] In 2016 Gus Grissom was included in the narrative of the movieHidden Figures. In 2018, he was portrayed byShea Whigham inFirst Man.[143] In 2020'sDisney+ miniseriesThe Right Stuff, Grissom is portrayed by Michael Trotter.
In the 1984 filmStar Trek III: The Search for Spock, theFederation starship USSGrissom is named for Grissom.[144] Another USSGrissom was featured in a 1990 episode of the TV seriesStar Trek: The Next Generation,[145] and was mentioned in a 1999 episode ofStar Trek: Deep Space Nine.[146] The characterGil Grissom in the CBS television seriesCSI: Crime Scene Investigation and the characterVirgil Tracy in the British television seriesThunderbirds are also named after the astronaut.[147][148] NASA footage, including Grissom's Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo missions, was released in high definition on theDiscovery Channel in June 2008 in the television seriesWhen We Left Earth: The NASA Missions.[25]
When Grissom died, he was in the process of writing a book about Gemini.[149]
No single ignition source of the fire was conclusively identified.
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