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Trusted Contributor
Posts: 1,253
Registered: ‎03-15-2010

Betty Grissom (wife of astronaut Gus) died this week

[ Edited ]

Of course it's sad that she died but I'm so glad that she lived long enough to see her husband vindicated.

 

For anyone who doesn't remember,  Gus was, I think, the 3rd astronaut, and when his capsule landed in the Atlantic, something happened that made his hatch blow prematurely and his capsule sank to the bottom of the Atlantic.. No one at the time really knew what happened so those geniuses at NASA blamed Gus. To his dying day, he insisted he hadn't anything wrong and Betty carried on the campagin to clear him even after her died when his dangerously flammable oxygen-filled capsure caught fire during a pre-flight check and he was killed, along with two other astronauts whose names, I regret to say, I can't remember.

Years later his sunken capsule was pulled out of the ocean, examined with a fine-toothed comb, so to speak, and it turns out there WAS a mechanical/electronic fault that was the reason why the hatch blew prematurely.

I'm so glad that Mrs. Grissom lived long enoughto see her husband vindicated. In the movie, "The Right Stuff" he was made to look like it was his fault. One of the people--in the movie-- familiar with the capsule had said, before the capsule was retreived (approximately) "We've run those things inside out; we've dropped them from 20 feet onto concretee, and they never 'just blew'".

But evidently those Einsteins never thought to test in the conditions of space flight, and it's likely that's why it "just blew".

 

And Mrs. Grissom saw her huband vindicated; I'm really glad for her.

Valued Contributor
Posts: 552
Registered: ‎03-10-2010

Re: Betty Grissom (wife of astronaut Gus) died this week

But, scientists are always right even when they guess, and they guess a lot more then they let on. 

I remember when both incidents happened. Poor Gus was made to look like he didn't know what he was doing. He got to be where he was through his training, but they made him look like a fool that just "got lucky" to be an astronaut. 

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Posts: 6,175
Registered: ‎10-26-2010

Re: Betty Grissom (wife of astronaut Gus) died this week

 

A few years ago, there was a mini series called The Astronauts Wives Club -- I enjoyed it more than I thought I would.

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Registered: ‎03-15-2010

Re: Betty Grissom (wife of astronaut Gus) died this week

[ Edited ]


 

 


@shopperqvc wrote:

But, scientists are always right even when they guess, and they guess

lot more then they let on. 

 

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

Not so. I've been married to one for 37 years and it's been my observation that most scientists are very careful and few of them guess; and when they do, they'll be the first to say, "It's just a guess".

As you might be able to imagine, this exactitude can be hard on a marriage. After all these years of DH assuming he's always right and if I don't see it his way I must be wrong, I've come close1% to punching him once or twice. But after 37 yearrs, he's not going to change and he's a great guy 99% of the time. It's that last 1% that gets under my skin sometimes.

  --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I'd like to add one more thing in regard to the remark: they guess

lot more then they let on. 

 

Yes, scientists DO guess--it's called "formulating a hypothosis". They then go on to test the hypothosis; if they "guess" right, it becomes a "theory" which too many people think is equal to an unproven guess. For instance, the "theory" of gravity; it's not a guess, it's a proven fact.

 

If a hypothosis is tested and found to be wrong, it's disgarded and the scientist has to go on to something else.


 

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Posts: 14,964
Registered: ‎05-23-2015

Re: Betty Grissom (wife of astronaut Gus) died this week


@FuzzyFace wrote:

Of course it's sad that she died but I'm so glad that she lived long enough to see her husband vindicated.

 

For anyone who doesn't remember,  Gus was, I think, the 3rd astronaut, and when his capsule landed in the Atlantic, something happened that made his hatch blow prematurely and his capsule sank to the bottom of the Atlantic.. No one at the time really knew what happened so those geniuses at NASA blamed Gus. To his dying day, he insisted he hadn't anything wrong and Betty carried on the campagin to clear him even after her died when his dangerously flammable oxygen-filled capsure caught fire during a pre-flight check and he was killed, along with two other astronauts whose names, I regret to say, I can't remember.

Years later his sunken capsule was pulled out of the ocean, examined with a fine-toothed comb, so to speak, and it turns out there WAS a mechanical/electronic fault that was the reason why the hatch blew prematurely.

I'm so glad that Mrs. Grissom lived long enoughto see her husband vindicated. In the movie, "The Right Stuff" he was made to look like it was his fault. One of the people--in the movie-- familiar with the capsule had said, before the capsule was retreived (approximately) "We've run those things inside out; we've dropped them from 20 feet onto concretee, and they never 'just blew'".

But evidently those Einsteins never thought to test in the conditions of space flight, and it's likely that's why it "just blew".

 

And Mrs. Grissom saw her huband vindicated; I'm really glad for her.


Maybe the scientists were told what their findings should be by the government.

" You are entitled to your opinion. But you are not entitled to your own facts."
Daniel Patrick Moynihan
Valued Contributor
Posts: 649
Registered: ‎01-19-2015

Re: Betty Grissom (wife of astronaut Gus) died this week

The Apollo 1 Astronauts were Gus Grissom, Ed White, and Roger Chaffee.  They were killed when their capsule exploded on the launch pad during training in preparation to be the first Americans to land on the moon.  

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Registered: ‎08-22-2013

Re: Betty Grissom (wife of astronaut Gus) died this week

Yes, scientists and mathematician are very exacting as are engineers. My husband worked as a mathematician for the NSA for 15 years and he and his colleagues were a PIA. I don't know how many times I read my husband the riot act when he would talk over me or correct me. He got better as he got older and was much different when he changed careers and was out of that environment. I don't doubt that it was their fault though, those people are under a lot of pressure and of course it wouldn't be unheard of for the government to literally bury everything.

Honored Contributor
Posts: 32,482
Registered: ‎03-10-2010

Re: Betty Grissom (wife of astronaut Gus) died this week

People make mistakes.  If you are interested in NASA and the things the engineers did, the guesses they had to make, and the way they operated to get these things off the ground, read "Failure Is Not an Option".  It is a real eye opener. 

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Registered: ‎03-10-2010

Re: Betty Grissom (wife of astronaut Gus) died this week

[ Edited ]

Betty Grissom sued the contractor who built the capsule that caught on fire and killed her husband.  She was under a lot of pressure not to sue but she prevailed.  At that time the astronauts basically couldn't get life insurance.

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Posts: 2,959
Registered: ‎05-21-2010

Re: Betty Grissom (wife of astronaut Gus) died this week


@Daisy Sunflower wrote:

 

A few years ago, there was a mini series called The Astronauts Wives Club -- I enjoyed it more than I thought I would.


I enjoyed that series also so much that I bought the book and read it. Those were exciting times.