On his last visit home to Texas on Jan. 22, 1967, astronaut Virgil “Gus” Grissom grabbed a lemon off a tree in his backyard. His wife asked what he planned to do with it.

Gus Grissom, who was raised in a small Indiana town about an hour from Louisville, was almost the first man on the moon in the Apollo 11 mission.

On his last visit home to Texas on Jan. 22, 1967, astronaut Virgil “Gus” Grissom grabbed a lemon off a tree in his backyard. His wife asked what he planned to do with it.

Astronauts Gus Grissom (left), Ed White (middle), and Roger Chaffee (right), died on Jan. 27, 1967, during a flash fire inside the Apollo 1 crew capsule during a launch test rehearsal. NASA ...

It was the opening scene of "Apollo 13" and was recreated for the Neil Armstrong biopic "First Man." ... Mercury astronaut Virgil "Gus" Grissom, who was commander of Apollo 1.

Gus Grissom NASA Bio. Learn More Grissom was assigned to serve as commander of the AS-204 (Apollo 1) mission. However, on Jan. 27, 1967, Grissom and astronauts Roger Chaffee, a fellow Purdue alumnus, ...

On this date, Jan. 27, 1967, NASA astronauts Virgil “Gus” Grissom, Edward White and Roger Chaffee died during a pre-launch test for Apollo 1. A flash fire swept through the capsule so quickly ...

On his last visit home to Texas on Jan. 22, 1967, astronaut Virgil “Gus” Grissom grabbed a lemon off a tree in his backyard. His wife asked what he planned to do with it.

On his last visit home to Texas on Jan. 22, 1967, astronaut Virgil “Gus” Grissom grabbed a lemon off a tree in his backyard. His wife asked what he planned to do with it.

On his last visit home to Texas on Jan. 22, 1967, astronaut Virgil “Gus” Grissom grabbed a lemon off a tree in his backyard. His wife asked what he planned to do with it.