Purdue University, in West Lafayette, Indiana, has always been noted for its superb science department as well as its substantial contributions to the development of space travel.  Of course, all its numerous astronauts revisit their old Alma Mater and chat about the developments in space, but due to security reasons there was some delay before they were being heard back from.  Finally there was a ceremony where many of them returned at the same time and all of Purdue's astronauts were presented along with photographs in a newspaper spread. But back in the Early 1980s the contact with these astronauts was rudimentary.  These notes were taken in February and August of 1982 and concern two of the first astronauts to really be openly discussed, Gus Grissom and Richard Lovell.  Things were “news-primitive” in those days and there may be some interesting insights into the early days of space in the following views.

     Virgil “Gus” Grissom was one of the earliest astronauts and his name was the first to be mentioned in Lafayette in connection with the space program.  There is now a Grissom Air Force Base in Indiana and a Grissom Hall at Purdue University.  The Hall has been situated near the Nuclear Engineering Building and the Electrical Engineering Building, which housed some well-guarded computers before the rise of the Computer Culture.  A radar rising slightly above these buildings has been watching the skies for many years.

     James W. Barany was the Associated Head of the School of Industrial Engineering at the time of this interview, in 1981, and he had his office in Grissom Hall.  It was a small office; the secretaries in the outer office were wearing Halloween masks, it being October.  Grissom Hall was originally the Civil Engineering Building and was constructed in 1965.  Its layout and design were planned by various members of various engineering and affiliated departments during the changeover into Grissom Hall, when its general appearance was also changed.  The School of Industrial and Aeronautical Engineering was scheduled to move into the new building (which by now, what with ivy and dust, seems quite aged).  They did not originally have sufficient funds, but inter-departmental shuffling managed that problem.

     When Gus Grissom perished in a mishap involving the oxygen system on their capsule exploding, there was kickback at Purdue.  “A lot of people,” said Barany, “called the President at home and in his office at the school to ask that something be done.  The Board of Trustees was contacted.  The state legislature was in session at the time, and the proposal was relayed there.  After three days it was renamed Grissom Hall with full approval.  Within a matter of 48 hours, buildings had been named.  It was an easy re-naming.  Grissom Air Force Base was once named Bunker Hill, but they had some difficulty with the re-naming of that one.  Formal dedication was a very big affair. Invitations were issued.  There was quite a little ceremony.  There is, I think, also a Chaffee Hall, but I am not certain what the location of it is.  It houses the propulsion labs.  We have all sorts of related buildings, such as Flight Operations and the like, but they are not as much in full operation at certain times as at others.  The Michael Golden labs take care of much of the work.”

     Chaffee, also with a Purdue background, was killed along with Grissom in the same accident.

     Purdue has also considered putting up a stone monument replica of a space contrivance, representing contributions to the space age. Just this year, that has been installed at the University.

     Professor Barany said that Grissom was a mechanical engineer who became a pilot after graduation.  Grissom liked the thought of outer space and decided to take the trip when it was offered.  His first flight returned safely but somewhat damaged.

Views of Grissom Air Force Base

 

     Several months after this conversation with Professor Barany, astronaut James Lovell visited Purdue.  Lovell discussed being there at an assembly in the Loeb Playhouse.  He said he was not as significant as John Glenn, but was perhaps worth meeting.  Somebody asked him, “How does an astronaut go to the bathroom?”

     “Believe it or not,” Lovell said, “one of the hardest problems for the engineers of the longer flights was a suitable waste-management program.  Grade schoolers have asked me this, women's groups have asked me this---everyone wants to know this.  It's hard to know who I am answering.”

     He was asked if he had ever had an unsuccessful or partially successful space flight but ignored the question.  Off stage he talked about the hardships of the space program, how hard it was to get through the regimen, and whether students now at Purdue would like to join NASA.  He rather thought that they wouldn't, but if they wanted to, there were still opportunities.