Virgil "Gus" Grissom
1926 - 1967
Virgil "Gus" Grissom was born April 3, 1926 in Mitchell,
Indiana. He graduated from Purdue University with a Bachelor
of Science in mechanical engineering. Grissom and his wife,
Betty, have two children, Scott and Mark.
Grissom, an Air Force Lieutenant Colonel, 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. On March 23, 1965 Grissom served as command
pilot on the first manned Gemini flight, a 3-orbit mission.
Subsequent to this assignment, he served as backup command
pilot for Gemini 6. He was named to serve as command pilot
for the first three-manned Apollo flight, Apollo 1.
The crew of Apollo One died on January 27, 1967 at
Cape Canaveral, Florida, when a flash fire consumed
their spacecraft during a countdown simulation in
preparation for the scheduled launch of their
Saturn/Apollo mission.
