Betty Grissom Dies at 91

Betty Grissom, wife of Virgil (Gus)Grissom, recently passed away.  Her husband Gus, was killed by an electrical fire on the launchpad in 1967, at age 40.  She sued a NASA contractor for wrongful death, and ultimately received $350,000.  (over $2.2 million today)

Gus Grissom was one of seven Mercury astronauts.  He was the second man in space, behind Alan Shepard.  He was the command pilot of Apollo 1, and intended to test the Apollo for flights to the moon.  The electrical fire occurred during routine testing, killing all three astronauts on board.

Four years after the accident, Betty Grissom decided to sue North American Rockwell, since the government cannot be sued.  Although the two year statue of limitations on wrongful death had expired, the general negligence statue of four years had not expired.  She sued, and won.  Her lawyer said that the astronauts had a right to expect that their capsule would be properly designed, and it was not.  Betty's action brought considerable grief to her and her family, many friends and strangers calling her unpatriotic and shunning her.  However, she never regretted the lawsuit.  Her suit paved the way for the other two families to receive compensation without having to go to court.