Retro Indy: Virgil 'Gus' Grissom was one of America's original astronauts

Indiana native Virgil I. Grissom was among the seven original astronaut trainees for Project Mercury in 1959. He became the second American to go into space when the Liberty Bell 7 was launched on July 21, 1961.

Following splashdown from that flight, Grissom almost drowned when his space capsule filled with water and sank into the Atlantic before it could be recovered.

After the flight, NASA awarded Grissom with its Distinguished Service Medal and he received his astronaut's wings on Dec. 7, 1961.

On July 15, 1962, he was promoted to the rank of major. He received the first General Thomas D. White Trophy on July 19, 1962, for being "The Air Force member who has made the most outstanding contribution to the nation's progress in aerospace."

Grissom helped design and construct the spacecraft of Project Gemini, a series of missions designed as an intermediate step between Project Mercury and the Apollo Moon project. On April 13, 1964, he was selected to be the first Gemini pilot, and on March 23, 1965, the first two-man space flight was launched with Grissom and John W. Young co-piloting Gemini III.

During the mission, he achieved another first by maneuvering the craft manually from one orbit to another. Both astronauts were awarded NASA's Exceptional Service medals.

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While serving as commander of the Apollo I spacecraft on January 27, 1967, Grissom died in one of NASA's worst disasters. During a flight simulation at Cape Kennedy in Florida, fire engulfed his space capsule and Grissom, along with fellow astronauts Ed White and Roger Chaffee, suffocated from the fire's toxic gases. He was 40 years old.

During an interview before the flight, Grissom said, "If we die, we want people to accept it. 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."

Grissom is buried at Arlington National Cemetery.

On July 20, 1999, 38 years after it sank, Grissom's space capsule was pulled from the Atlantic Ocean by Curt Newport, an underwater salvage expert who had spent 14 years searching for the capsule. The Discovery Channel, which financed the recovery expedition, sent the capsule on a three-year tour, which included a visit to The Children's Museum in Indianapolis. The capsule was then moved to the Kansas Cosmosphere and Space Center.

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About Gus Grissom

Full name: Virgil Ivan Grissom.

Born: April 3, 1926 in Mitchell, Ind.

Died: Jan. 27, 1967 in Cape Canaveral, Fla.

Married: Betty L. Moore on July 6, 1945.

Children: Scott and Mark.

Parents: Dennis and Cecile Grissom.

Siblings: Norman and Lowell Grissom and Wilma Beavers.

Education: Purdue University; B.S. in mechanical engineering, 1950.

Military: Air Force 1944-45, 1951-1967 Korean War veteran.

Awards: Distinguished Flying Cross, Air Medal with Cluster, Distinguished Service Medal (NASA), General Thomas D. White Trophy and the NASA Exceptional Service Medal.

Memorials: Virgil I. "Gus" Grissom State Memorial located at Spring Mill Park near Mitchell, Ind.

Key dates in the life of Gus Grissom

1959: Gus Grissom, a native of Mitchell, Ind., and a Purdue graduate, is selected as one of the Mercury 7, America's first astronauts.

July 21, 1961: Grissom becomes the second American in space on a 15-minute sub-orbital flight aboard Liberty Bell 7.

March 23, 1965: Grissom commands the first manned Gemini flight, becoming the first man to fly in space twice.

Jan. 27, 1967: Grissom, Ed White and Purdue graduate Roger Chaffee die in a fire aboard Apollo 1 capsule during testing on the ground.

Sources: NASA; Purdue University

This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Virgil 'Gus' Grissom was one of America's original astronauts