Home - Search - Browse - Alphabetic Index: 0- 1- 2- 3- 4- 5- 6- 7- 8- 9
A- B- C- D- E- F- G- H- I- J- K- L- M- N- O- P- Q- R- S- T- U- V- W- X- Y- Z
Grissom, Virgil Ivan 'Gus'
Grissom
Grissom
Credit: www.spacefacts.de
American test pilot astronaut 1959-1967. Second American in space and first Gemini commander. Flew 100 combat missions in Korea. Died in on-pad fire of Apollo 1.

Status: Deceased; Active 1959-1967. Born: 1926-04-03. Died: 1967-01-27. Spaceflights: 2 . Total time in space: 0.21 days. Birth Place: Mitchell, Indiana.

Official NASA Biography as of June 2016:VIRGIL I. GRISSOM (LIEUTENANT COLONEL, USAF)
NASA ASTRONAUT (DECEASED)

PERSONAL DATA: Born April 3, 1926, in Mitchell., Indiana. Died January 27, 1967, at NASA Kennedy Space Center, Florida, in the Apollo spacecraft fire. He is survived by his wife Betty and their two children.

EDUCATION: Graduated from Mitchell High School; received a Bachelor of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering from Purdue University.

ORGANIZATIONS: Member of the Society of Experimental Test Pilots.

AWARDS: Posthumously awarded the Congressional Space Medal of Honor.

SPECIAL HONORS: Distinguished Flying Cross and the Air Medal with cluster for his Korean service, two NASA Distinguished Service medals and the NASA Exceptional Service Medal; the Air Force Command Astronaut Wings.

EXPERIENCE: Grissom, an Air Force Lieutenant Colonel, received his wings in March 1951. He flew 100 combat missions in Korea in F-86s with the 334th Fighter Interceptor Squadron and, upon returning to the United States in 1952, became a jet instructor at Bryan, Texas.

In August 1955, he entered the Air Force Institute of Technology at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, to study Aeronautical Engineering. He attended the Test Pilot School at Edwards Air Force Base, California, in October 1956 and returned to Wright-Patterson in May 1957 as a test pilot assigned to the fighter branch.

He has logged 4,600 hours flying time3,500 hours in jet aircraft.

NASA EXPERIENCE: Grissom was one of the seven Mercury astronauts selected by NASA in April 1959. He piloted the Liberty Bell 7 spacecraft -- the second and final suborbital Mercury test flight -- on July 21, 1961. This flight lasted 15 minutes and 37seconds, attained an altitude of 118 statute miles, and traveled 302 miles downrange from the launch pad at Cape Kennedy.

On March 23, 1965, he served as command pilot on the first manned Gemini flight, A 3-orbit mission during which the crew accomplished the first orbital trajectory modifications and the first lifting reentry of a manned spacecraft. Subsequent to this assignment, he served as backup command pilot for Gemini 6.

Grissom was named to serve as command pilot for the AS-204 mission, the first 3-man Apollo flight

Lieutenant Colonel Grissom died on January 27, 1967, in the Apollo spacecraft flash fire during a launch pad test at Kennedy Space Center, Florida.

DECEMBER 1997

Official Biography

NAME: Virgil I. "Gus" Grissom

BIRTHPLACE AND DATE: Grissom was born in Mitchell, Indiana., on April 3, 1926.

EDUCATION: Bachelor of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering from Purdue University.

EXPERIENCE: Grissom received his Air Force wings in 1951 and flew 100 combat missions in Korea in F-86 Sabres with the 334th Fighter Interceptor Squadron. After returning to the United States he was a jet instructor at Bryan, Texas. In 1955, he studied aeronautical engineering at the Air Force Institute of Technology, then went to the Air Force Test Pilot School at Edwards Air Force Base, California. In 1957 he went to Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Ohio as a test pilot in the fighter branch.

NASA selected Grissom as one of the original seven Mercury astronauts in 1959. He made the second 15-minute suborbital Mercury flight on July 21, 1961, aboard the capsule Liberty Bell 7. After splashdown in the Atlantic, explosive bolts holding the emergency exit hatch blew without warning and water filled the capsule, forcing Grissom into the ocean. He was rescued by helicopter, but the capsule sank. As senior astronaut in the US team after the departures of Glenn and Shepard, Grissom commanded the maiden flight of the two-man Gemini capsule. With him on Gemini 3 was rookie John Young. During a three-orbit flight the Grissom conducted the first manoeuvres in orbit by a manned spacecraft. Grissom was assigned to command the first manned flight test of the Apollo capsule. He died along with astronauts Edward White II and Roger Chaffee in a fire during a launch pad test on Jan. 27, 1967. He was buried in Arlington National Cemetery.



More at: Grissom.

Family: Astronaut. Country: USA. Spacecraft: Mercury, Gemini. Flights: Mercury MR-3A, Mercury MR-3, Mercury MR-4, Mercury MA-11, Gemini 3, Gemini 6, Apollo 204. Agency: USAF. Bibliography: 5469.
Photo Gallery

Apollo 204Apollo 204
Apollo 1 prime crew in spacesuits at the launch complex
Credit: NASA


G3C Space SuitsG3C Space Suits
Grissom and Young in their G3C suits for Gemini 3. This was the only flight the suits were used on.
Credit: NASA



1926 April 3 - .
1959 April 2 - .
1959 April 2 - .
1961 February 10 - .
1961 February 21 - .
1961 February 21 - .
1961 March 24 - .
1961 April 4 - . LV Family: Redstone. Launch Vehicle: Redstone MRLV.
1961 May 5 - . 14:34 GMT - . Launch Site: Cape Canaveral. Launch Complex: Cape Canaveral LC5. LV Family: Redstone. Launch Vehicle: Redstone MRLV.
1961 July 18-19 - .
1961 July 21 - . 12:20 GMT - . Launch Site: Cape Canaveral. Launch Complex: Cape Canaveral LC5. LV Family: Redstone. Launch Vehicle: Redstone MRLV.
1961 July 22 - .
1961 October 1 - .
1961 December 6 - .
1962 July 10 - .
1963 January 26 - .
By the end of 1963 - . LV Family: Atlas. Launch Vehicle: Atlas D.
1964 April 13 - .
1965 February 21 - . LV Family: Titan. Launch Vehicle: Titan II.
1965 March 23 - . 14:24 GMT - . Launch Site: Cape Canaveral. Launch Complex: Cape Canaveral LC19. LV Family: Titan. Launch Vehicle: Titan II GLV.
1965 April 5 - . LV Family: Titan. Launch Vehicle: Titan II.
1965 December 15 - . 13:37 GMT - . Launch Site: Cape Canaveral. Launch Complex: Cape Canaveral LC19. LV Family: Titan. Launch Vehicle: Titan II GLV.
1966 October 19 - . Launch Vehicle: Saturn I.
1967 January 27 - .
1967 January 27 - . Launch Site: Cape Canaveral. Launch Complex: Cape Canaveral. LV Family: Saturn I. Launch Vehicle: Saturn IB.
1967 January 31 - .

Back to top of page
Home - Search - Browse - Alphabetic Index: 0- 1- 2- 3- 4- 5- 6- 7- 8- 9
A- B- C- D- E- F- G- H- I- J- K- L- M- N- O- P- Q- R- S- T- U- V- W- X- Y- Z
© 1997-2019 Mark Wade - Contact
© / Conditions for Use