Virgil I. (Gus) Grissom Memorial Museum – Mitchell, Indiana

Virgil I. (Gus) Grissom Memorial Museum – Mitchell, Indiana

Gus Grissom was one of the original NASA astronauts for Project Mercury.  He was an Air Force pilot whith years of experience and the second American to actually fly in space.  Grissom was killed during a trianing exerise and pre-launch test fot the Apollo I mission before he had the opportunity to fly the Apollo mission.  A fire broke out in the capsule during prelaunch tests in 1967, killing him and his crew.

The Museum is located in Spring Mill State Park in Mitchell.  Although there is a small charge to get into the park, the gatekeepers will let you in for free when you tell them all you want to do is go to the Museum.  In honor of this home town man the museum was dedicated to him in July of 1971, ten years after Gus’s first flight, and four years after his death in the fire.  Dying with him were fellow astronauts: Ed White and Roger B. Chaffee.  Although the cause of the fire was never discovered the tragedy will stay in the minds of all those that work on the space missions making sure that all precautions are taken to never have such a crisis happen again.

The Museum has most of the items from the Molly Brown, which was the name he named after the Boradway show “The Unsinkable Molly Borwn”.  The Liberty Bell, his Mercury capsule, remained at the bottom of the Pacific until 1999 when it was recovered.  It is now on exhibit at the Kansas Cosmosphere in Hutchinson, Kansas.)  But, the Molly Brown is there for you to see, behind a Plexiglas shield, suspended above the ground floor gallery.  You can also see his Mercury spacesuit, gloves and helmet.  The flag that draped his coffin at Arlington National Cemetery is also on display.  His wife, Betty, has donated the Space Congressional Medal of Honor, GT-e Medallion that went up with Gus, Apollo I Medallion that was to go up on Apollo I, Autographed photo personalized to Gus from LBJ watching the GT-3 flight and Gus’s Gemini access badge. 

Grissom had a great sense of humor which came to the reason that NASA forbade mission commanders from naming their capsules after Grissom named his the Molly Brown. She, Molly Brown, didn’t go down with the Titanic so he thought it was an appropriate name.  Although NASA didn’t appreciate his humor (at least the publicity officials didn’t) so they never “officially” used the name but ground controllers used the name thoughout the flight of Gemini 3 .

In early 1964 Alan Shepard was grounded after being diagnosed with Meniere’s disease and Grissom was designated to the command pilot for Gemini 3, the first manned Project Gemini flight.  This mission would make him the first astronaut to fly twice beyond the accepted boundary of space.  Grissom was one of the smaller-sized astronauts and he worked very closely with the engineers and technicians from McDonnell Aircraft who built the Gemini capsule.  The first three spacecraft were built around him and the design was humorously named the Gusmobile.  However by July 1963 NASA discovered that 14 out of the 16 astronauts could not fit themselves into the cabin and later cockpits were modified.  During this time Grissom innovated a multi-axis joystick for controlling the maneuvering thrusters with one hand.

There is a Gus Grissom Monument in Downtown Mitchell.  It is a scaled-down version carved in limestone of Gus’s Gemini rocket.  Although Limestone is easily gotten in this area of the country, it’s a shame it wasn’t built of granite or marble.  Because it is limestone the rain and snow have stained the rocket making it rather dull and gray.  It is built on the spot that was at one time occupied by the elementary school that Gus went to.  A sign in front of the statue is titled, “One of Ours”–erected by the local Masons.

The Hours: Weekdays from 9 AM to 4 PM and Weekend Hours from 9 AM to 4 PM.

You should allow at least an hour to visit the museum.

Address:3333 State Rd. 600 East, Mitchell, IN

Directions:On Hwy 60, three miles east of town, in Spring Mill State Park.

Phone:812-849-4129

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