Betty Grissom, 91, widow of astronaut killed in fire, dies

Betty Lavonne Grissom, widow of astronaut Virgil “Gus” Grissom, died at age 91. Mark Grissom said Wednesday his mother had been in good health before her death Sunday at her Houston home. He said she will be buried at Arlington National Cemetery, where his father is interred.

In 1961, Gus Grissom became the second American in space. After his 15-minute suborbital flight, Grissom nearly drowned when his capsule landed in the Atlantic and sank after the hatch blew off prematurely.

Betty Grissom successfully sued a NASA contractor after her husband and two other astronauts died in 1967 in an Apollo launch pad fire.