Gus Grissom, Date of Birth, Place of Birth, Date of Death

    

Gus Grissom

American astronaut

Date of Birth: 03-Apr-1926

Place of Birth: Lawrence County, Indiana, United States

Date of Death: 27-Jan-1967

Profession: astronaut, flight instructor, test pilot, mechanical engineer, air force officer

Nationality: United States

Zodiac Sign: Aries


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About Gus Grissom

  • Virgil Ivan "Gus" Grissom (April 3, 1926 – January 27, 1967) was one of the seven original National Aeronautics and Space Administration's Project Mercury astronauts, and the first of the Mercury Seven to die.
  • He was also a Project Gemini and an Apollo program astronaut.
  • Grissom was the second American to fly in space, and the first member of the NASA Astronaut Corps to fly in space twice.
  • In addition, Grissom was a World War II and Korean War veteran, U.S.
  • Air Force test pilot, and a mechanical engineer.
  • He was a recipient of the Distinguished Flying Cross, and the Air Medal with an oak leaf cluster, a two-time recipient of the NASA Distinguished Service Medal, and, posthumously, the Congressional Space Medal of Honor. During World War II, Grissom enlisted in the U.S.
  • Army Air Forces as an aviation cadet.
  • After his discharge from military service, Grissom enrolled at Purdue University, graduating with a bachelor's in mechanical engineering in 1950.
  • He reenlisted in the U.S.
  • Air Force, earning his pilot's wings in 1951, and flew 100 combat missions during the Korean War.
  • After returning to the United States, Grissom was reassigned to work as a flight instructor at Bryan Air Force Base in Texas.
  • He attended the U.S.
  • Air Force Institute of Technology for a year, earning a bachelor's degree in aeromechanics, and received his test pilot training at Edwards Air Force Base in California before his assignment as a test pilot at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Ohio. Selected as one of the Mercury Seven astronauts, Grissom was the pilot of Mercury-Redstone 4 (Liberty Bell 7), the second American suborbital flight, on July 21, 1961.
  • At the end of the flight, the capsule's hatch blew off prematurely after it landed in the Atlantic Ocean.
  • Grissom was picked up by recovery helicopters, but the blown hatch caused the craft to fill with water and sink.
  • His next flight was in the Project Gemini program as command pilot for Gemini 3 (Molly Brown), which was a successful three-orbit mission on March 23, 1965.
  • Grissom, commander of AS-204 (Apollo 1), along with his fellow astronauts Ed White and Roger B.
  • Chaffee, died on January 27, 1967, during a pre-launch test for the Apollo 1 mission at Cape Kennedy, Florida.

Read more at Wikipedia

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