SummaryJuly 21, 1961. Virgil "Gus" Grissom was lying in his capsule on the top of a Redstone missile, waiting to follow in Allen Sheppard's footsteps and be hurled 118 miles into space. He had been chosen from a Group of 508 men, screened in 1959, and narrowed down to seven of the healthiest men in the country. The seven men were tested, trained, retested, and given further training. Finally the long-awaited hour had come. After six minutes of soaring through space, noting the brilliant colors of the clouds and the blue of the earth's atmosphere, Grissom began his re-entry. There were serious problems presented by the flight when the space capsule splashed in the Atlantic Ocean, but Grissom was safely rescued by helicopter.
on the web
Gus Grissom Wikipedia Page
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gus_Grissom
NASA Astronauts from Purdue
http://roger.ecn.purdue.edu/~collicot/astronauts.html
Detailed Biography from NASA
http://www.hq.nasa.gov/office/pao/History/Apollo204/zorn/grissom.htm