Named in memory of Virgil I. “Gus” Grissom (1926-1967), one of the seven Mercury astronauts. On 1961 July 21, as pilot of the Mercury-Redstone 4 suborbital mission, he became the second American in space. In 1965 he commanded a three-orbit mission, the first manned Gemini flight. As command pilot of Apollo 1, he lost his life in the tragic fire in that spacecraft. Name proposed by D. Owings and F. K. Edmondson. Citation prepared by Muriel M. Thorne, NASA.