Not Giving Up

Madison, Conn. – September 22, 2005 – A 16-year-old high school student is fighting NASA over ownership of Gus Grissom’s Mercury spacesuit. Amanda Meyer was doing research for a heroism project last February when she first wrote about Gus Grissom, the astronaut who died in the 1967 fire during an Apollo 1 training exercise. Today’s she’s become the Grissom family’s best chance to recover his Mercury spacesuit. A high school sophomore from Madison, Connecticut, Meyer spent her summer vacation writing letters, making phone calls and launching an Internet petition drive in hopes of persuading NASA officials to give the suit back or at least display it where his family wants it — at the Gus Grissom Memorial Museum near his birthplace in Mitchell, Indiana. Worn by Grissom on his 1961 suborbital flight, the suit is currently displayed at the Astronaut Hall of Fame in Titusville, Florida. In fact, it is the only flight suit in their collection. Grissom’s family donated it to the then privately-funded Astronaut Hall of Fame in 1989. But the fight over the suit began in 2003 when a private contractor took over the museum. The museum returned Grissom’s watch, cowboy hat, a patch, a U.S. flag and other belongings, but NASA refused to give back the spacesuit saying that they were reclaiming lost property. Officials said Grissom signed out the suit in 1965 to take to a show-and-tell for his children; he never returned it. Meyer, co-captain of her school's debate team, believes she has a compromise — the government doesn't have to give up ownership of the suit, but should loan it to the Gus Grissom Memorial Museum. Delaware North Companies, the government contractor that operates the Astronaut Hall of Fame, has said only the Smithsonian can transfer such artifacts. The spacesuit's fate will be reconsidered at the end of the year. However, NASA plans to ask the Smithsonian to keep it in Florida. Roger Launius, chairman of space history at the Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum, told the Associated Press that Meyer is ignoring that the Grissom museum hasn’t asked for the suit to be transferred. Grissom wore the suit during his Mercury mission, in which his spacecraft landed in the ocean but sank after a hatch prematurely blew. Meyer, however, continues to gather signatures — she already has more than 4,000. On her “Save the Suit” web site, she explains why she’s made this her mission. “I have always been in awe of the bravery of the astronauts, who are willing to risk life and limb to pursue knowledge,” she wrote. “My all-time hero of these elite men was Virgil Ivan, AKA Gus, Grissom. Ever since my mother told me of what he did for our nation, I could not help but wish to be as he was. I know what I want to do in this life, I want to do as Gus did, change the world forever, for the greater good.” Grissom’s life at a glance He was born on April 3, 1926, in Mitchell, Indiana. He earned his bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from Purdue University in 1950. Grissom earned his test pilot credentials in 1957 and moved to Wright-Patterson where he tested new jet fighters. About the same time, he received a Teletype message, telling him to report to an address in Washington, D.C. wearing civilian clothes. The message was classified “Top Secret” and Grissom wasn’t to disclose its contents to anyone. He did as told and discovered he was one of 110 military test pilots whose credentials had earned them a chance to learn more about Project Mercury. He took some of NASA’s tests, both physical and psychological. He nearly was disqualified when doctors found out he had hay fever. But he told them his allergies wouldn’t be a problem in space because there wouldn’t be any ragweed pollen there. They couldn’t argue his logic. Finally, seven were chosen. On April 13, 1959, Air Force Capt. Virgil Grissom received official word that he had been selected as one of the seven Project Mercury astronauts. Grissom became the second American in space, after Alan Shepard. But his second space flight on Gemini III in 1965 earned him the distinction of being the first man to fly in space twice. He died Jan. 27, 1967, in the Apollo 204 fire at Cape Kennedy.

NASA Astronaut Virgil “Gus” Grissom. (Photo courtesy NASA) Gus Grissom gets an assist from suit specialist Joe W. Schmidt as he prepares for the Mercury- Redstone 4 manned space flight. Grissom was the second American in space. (Photo courtesy NASA) Gus Grissom prepares to enter the Liberty Bell 7 spacecraft prior to his successful 5,310 mph space ride. He reached an altitude of 118 statute miles. (Photo courtesy NASA) Liberty Bell 7, on top of a Mercury-Redstone rocket, lifts off from Cape Canaveral (now Kennedy Space Center), Florida, with Astronaut Gus Grissom in command. The flight, which took place on July 21, 1961, was a short 15 minutes. (Photo courtesy NASA) For More Information “Return the Suit” Kennedy Space Center U.S. Astronaut Hall of Fame Mission Review

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