The Boilermakers: Gus Grissom

Inspired as a boy by the fantastic comic-strip fiction of Buck Rogers and Flash Gordon, Virgil I. "Gus" Grissom forged a high-flying reality as a man — becoming one of America's first astronauts and the first man to go into space twice in a capsule vessel.
Although Grissom died at age 40 in 1967, he cut an integral path through several seminal moments of the 20th century, including 100 fighter-pilot missions in the Korean War and test-pilot duty in California.
The Indiana native and Purdue University graduate's life, legacy and motivations are recalled in the latest episode of "The Boilermakers" — an ITaP-produced documentary series chronicling famous Purdue graduates that airs on the Big Ten Network.
http://www.itap.purdue.edu/newsroom/detail.cfm?NewsId=2242

Category:

Science & Technology

Tags:

• space
• travel
• astronaut
• Purdue
• aeronautics
• orbit
• engineering
• science
• technology

[wmsb72673]

@27hfd Gus would have commanded the "G" mission. Neil probably wouldn't have been on the mission.

[27hfd]

Had Gus lived on, he would have surely been selected to join Neil Armstrong on the first lunar landing mission in the summer of 1969. His well lived life should be an inspiration for all of us to do your very best and face whatever danger comes along.

[Karochsharon]

Gus Grissom is the greatest hero in the history of the space program. And by the way, old dude introducing the video, no one calls him...that other name.

[BusinessButterfly]

@adamcheema hmmm yea I was thinking of the same

[adamcheema]

tis whole show was boloney they killed grissom cause he was gonna tell everybody that nasa could not make it to the moon

[Nautilus1972]

@prooc What has the government got to do with NASA? It was NASA's lack of foresight that killed them. R.I.P. Grissom, Chafee and White.

[A86]

@prooc - No they didn't.

[prooc]

@RRaquello Yeah too bad the government killed him. 

[abbydoodlelovesjb]

my school has a pic of him on the wall when you first come in and my schools called grissom

[rosa3344yu]

wow~