Gus Grissom

American astronaut, one of the original seven men chosen to represent the United States in space, the second American in space on Project Mercury in 1961, and the first to maneuver a spacecraft manually from one orbital path to another. He was also the first to make two trips into outer space. He died tragically on 27 January 1967 in a flashfire aboard a grounded spacecraft during a Project Apollo flight simulation. Virgil Ivan "Gus" Grissom grew up in Mitchell, IN with two brothers and a sister and attended primary and secondary schools in Mitchell. He entered the Air Force in 1944 as an aviation cadet and was discharged in November 1945. He graduated from Purdue University in 1950 with a degree in mechanical engineering, and returned to aviation cadet training after graduation. He received his wings in March 1951. He joined the 75th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron at Presque Island, Maine, as an F-86 fighter pilot. He flew 100 combat missions in Korea, then left in June 1952 and became a jet pilot 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. In October 1956 he attended the Test Pilot School at Edwards Air Force Base, Calif., then returned to Wright-Patterson in May 1957 as a test pilot assigned to the Fighter Branch. He was assigned to the NASA Manned Spacecraft Center in April 1959 after his selection as a Project Mercury astronaut. He had been awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross and the Air Medal with cluster for service in Korea. Grissom was the pilot of the Mercury-Redstone 4 flights of the Liberty Bell 7 on 21 July 1961. He was also the command pilot on the first manned Gemini flight on 23 March 1965. He was named to the first Apollo manned flight. The shocking tragedy of his death, along with that of Edward White and Roger Chaffee occurred on 27 January 1967 at Cape Kennedy aboard a grounded spacecraft during simulation of the first Project Apollo flight. He married the former Betty Moore and had two sons. Link to Wikipedia biography