Gus Grissom

Virgil Ivan "Gus" Grissom (April 3, 1926 – January 27, 1967) was a U.S. Air Force pilot who became one of the first American astronauts and one of the first to die in the U.S. space program.

Tributes

• Grissom Air Reserve Base in Indiana is named after him.
• The Virgil I. Grissom Library in the Denbigh section of Newport News, Virginia is named after him.
• The Virgil I. Grissom High School in Huntsville, Alabama is named after him.
• The Virgil I. Grissom Middle School in Mishawaka, Indiana is named after him.
• ' character Gil Grissom is named after him.
• Thunderbirds character Virgil Tracy is named after him.
• Grissom Hall at Purdue University is named after him.
• The star Epsilon Cassiopeiae was named Navi, "Ivan" backwards, in his honor. Grissom and his crew used the star to calibrate their equipment and recorded the name as a joke, though it eventually stuck.{{ref|star_name}}