Astronaut Virgil ‘Gus’ Grissom Memorial Museum

The Virgil Grissom Memorial is intended to interest visitors of all ages in the successes and sacrifices of the early stages in America’s space program. Grissom was convinced that Man stood on the threshold of great, future adventures in space. He was determined that his beloved country, the United States of America, should remain the leader in space exploration.
This memorial is a tribute to Mitchell, Indiana’s hometown hero. He was a native of Mitchell, Indiana and a pioneer in the United States space program.
The final steps needed to prepare for a successful, manned, lunar landing were undertaken during the Apollo program. The ultimate goal of Apollo was to launch a spacecraft on a path to the moon, using the weak lunar gravity to slingshot the spacecraft to the moon and then back to earth. In February 1966, Virgil I Grissom, Ed White, and Roger Chaffee were chosen as the crew for the Apollo I mission.
On January 27, 1967, during a test on the launch pad, a flash fire broke out inside the command module. Grissom, White, and Chaffee we’re trapped inside, unable to escape the blaze.
Virgil I ‘Gus’ Grissom was buried in Arlington National Cemetery.
Gus was quoted as saying, “If we fall, let the world know that we died as test pilots in the risky business of exploring outer space.”
This memorial museum has so many interesting facts and memorabilia from the early days of space exploration. Standing in front of the Gemini III was sobering. Seeing this early spacecraft puts into perspective what our astronauts were willing to do to further space exploration.