Author George Leopold gives NASA Pioneer Gus Grissom His Due in Calculated Risk: The Supersonic Life and Times of Gus Grissom
By Mark Rhodes
Calculated Risk: The Supersonic Life and Times of Gus Grissom (Purdue University Press) is a thoughtful and comprehensive attempt to not only tell the story of Grissom’s life but most notably put Grissom’s accomplishments in context and perspective as one of the original seven NASA astronauts. Grissom, who died tragically during a pre-launch test for the Apollo 1, is a unique figure in NASA lore and history in that he was one of the few astronauts to not fully “tell his story” in the form of a memoir. Mr. Leopold, who writes frequently about the space program, methodically traces the arc of Grissom’s rise from small town in Indiana to enlisting at the end of World War II as a teenager in the embryonic U.S. Air Force then studying engineering at Purdue before ultimately re-enlisting in Korea where he saw action in the skies (interestingly enough, unlike several of his future astronaut peers, Grissom never had an official kill, as he primarily functioned as a wingman). Post Korea, Grissom distinguished himself as one of the first rank of American test pilots at Edwards Air Force Base.Everything changed in Grissom’s life in 1957 when Sputnik was launched into space throwing the Cold War into a very high gear overnight. Grissom competed with over 100 exceptional and accomplished candidates to be one of the “Mercury Seven” astronauts. This distinguished group of American test pilots was thrust into immediate celebrity status thanks to flattering, gushing profiles in Life Magazine. Grissom was particularly uncomfortable with this development, as the work the test pilots did was hardly public knowledge and was in many instances top secret. Grissom also didn’t possess a high degree of the natural swagger and charisma of his peers (particularly John Glenn who was preternaturally media savvy). Despite this, Grissom became the second American in space and was part of the first man-maneuvered space flight as one of the astronauts in the Gemini program. Unfortunately, Grissom’s persona was damaged early in the space program when his Mercury Flight, Liberty Bell 7 blew its escape hatch prematurely, causing the loss of the capsule and nearly resulting in Grissom’s death by drowning. There had been some controversy over the years that Grissom somehow was responsible for this mishap (exacerbated by both the literary and film versions of The Right Stuff that strongly hint at this). Mr. Leopold takes a seriously revisionist view here, making a painstaking case that the hatch “blew” as a result of a combination of electrostatic discharge and sub-par design. The tenacious Grissom ultimately restored his reputation and revived his mojo through his work with the Gemini program (besides his duties on the crew, he also helped design the ship) and was picked as the commander for the first Apollo mission in 1966. The concluding portion of the book chronicles the tragedy of Apollo 1 where Astronauts Grissom, Ed White, and Roger Chaffee died as a result of a spark igniting a fire, which caused asphyxiation during a simulated launch. The depressing revelation of this account is that NASA’s rushing to fulfill JFK’s promise to get a man on the moon by the end of the ‘60s was at the heart of the deaths of Grissom and his co-pilots. Mr. Leopold recounts that the quality control was minimal and that NASA’s oversight was poor. Beyond this, the capsule had miles of exposed wire, an unreliable hatch, and too much exposure to pure oxygen. The upside of this disaster was that it forced NASA to re-evaluate its technical practices and institutional philosophy resulting in the Apollo 11 landing on the moon in a redesigned craft a little more than two years after this tragedy. Author Leopold manages to connect Grissom’s work and sacrifice with the subsequent successes of the Apollo program. For more on Mr. Leopold and his work, see his blog https://gleopold.wordpress.com/
Calculated Risk: The Supersonic Life and Times of Gus Grissom (Purdue University Press) is a thoughtful and comprehensive attempt to not only tell the story of Grissom’s life but most notably put Grissom’s accomplishments in context and perspective as one of the original seven NASA astronauts. Grissom, who died tragically during a pre-launch test for the Apollo 1, is a unique figure in NASA lore and history in that he was one of the few astronauts to not fully “tell his story” in the form of a memoir. Mr. Leopold, who writes frequently about the space program, methodically traces the arc of Grissom’s rise from small town in Indiana to enlisting at the end of World War II as a teenager in the embryonic U.S. Air Force then studying engineering at Purdue before ultimately re-enlisting in Korea where he saw action in the skies (interestingly enough, unlike several of his future astronaut peers, Grissom never had an official kill, as he primarily functioned as a wingman). Post Korea, Grissom distinguished himself as one of the first rank of American test pilots at Edwards Air Force Base.Everything changed in Grissom’s life in 1957 when Sputnik was launched into space throwing the Cold War into a very high gear overnight. Grissom competed with over 100 exceptional and accomplished candidates to be one of the “Mercury Seven” astronauts. This distinguished group of American test pilots was thrust into immediate celebrity status thanks to flattering, gushing profiles in Life Magazine. Grissom was particularly uncomfortable with this development, as the work the test pilots did was hardly public knowledge and was in many instances top secret. Grissom also didn’t possess a high degree of the natural swagger and charisma of his peers (particularly John Glenn who was preternaturally media savvy). Despite this, Grissom became the second American in space and was part of the first man-maneuvered space flight as one of the astronauts in the Gemini program. Unfortunately, Grissom’s persona was damaged early in the space program when his Mercury Flight, Liberty Bell 7 blew its escape hatch prematurely, causing the loss of the capsule and nearly resulting in Grissom’s death by drowning. There had been some controversy over the years that Grissom somehow was responsible for this mishap (exacerbated by both the literary and film versions of The Right Stuff that strongly hint at this). Mr. Leopold takes a seriously revisionist view here, making a painstaking case that the hatch “blew” as a result of a combination of electrostatic discharge and sub-par design. The tenacious Grissom ultimately restored his reputation and revived his mojo through his work with the Gemini program (besides his duties on the crew, he also helped design the ship) and was picked as the commander for the first Apollo mission in 1966. The concluding portion of the book chronicles the tragedy of Apollo 1 where Astronauts Grissom, Ed White, and Roger Chaffee died as a result of a spark igniting a fire, which caused asphyxiation during a simulated launch. The depressing revelation of this account is that NASA’s rushing to fulfill JFK’s promise to get a man on the moon by the end of the ‘60s was at the heart of the deaths of Grissom and his co-pilots. Mr. Leopold recounts that the quality control was minimal and that NASA’s oversight was poor. Beyond this, the capsule had miles of exposed wire, an unreliable hatch, and too much exposure to pure oxygen. The upside of this disaster was that it forced NASA to re-evaluate its technical practices and institutional philosophy resulting in the Apollo 11 landing on the moon in a redesigned craft a little more than two years after this tragedy. Author Leopold manages to connect Grissom’s work and sacrifice with the subsequent successes of the Apollo program. For more on Mr. Leopold and his work, see his blog https://gleopold.wordpress.com/ 