posted January 19, 2008 10:36 PM               

Join with me in commemorating the accomplishments of astronauts Virgil I. "Gus" Grissom and John W. Young! With the help of Bill Hunt and the collectSPACE community I've put together a modern replica of the "Molly Brown" patch to honor their GT-3 mission -- the flight of the "Molly Brown."

A brief history courtesy Space Mission Patches:

quote:

---

According to John Young, during his Apollo training Gus Grissom had a batch of "Molly Brown" patches made. This patch commemorated his and Young's Gemini 3 mission, on which the radio call sign "Molly Brown" was used. This was the last mission to fly without a mission patch (assuming you count Gemini 4's American flag as a mission patch, as the Gemini 4 crew did). Grissom's "Molly Brown" patch shows a Gemini capsule serenely floating in the ocean, awaiting recovery -- in contrast to Grissom's Mercury flight, when his "Liberty Bell 7" capsule sank to the bottom of the Atlantic when the hatch prematurely jettisoned. There are photos of Young wearing this patch prior to Apollo 10, during his training for the Apollo 16 mission, and during the Shuttle era.

---

If you are interested, see details and consider purchasing.

Any proceeds above and beyond my expenses will be donated to the Gus Grissom Memorial in Spring Mill State Park, Mitchell, IN, for planned expansion of the exhibits there.

Take care,

posted January 20, 2008 07:47 AM               

Thanks for your efforts. I've just ordered a couple too!

posted January 23, 2008 11:48 PM               

The response to the patch has been very gratifying. Thanks for the positive feedback and support of this project.

Credit where it is due -- Bill Hunt really made this possible by sending along a high-resolution photo of the patch and giving me his invaluable feedback on the sample patches -- Thanks Bill!

I wouldn't have done this if Luc from the Netherlands hadn't come up the idea of making quality repro's of Gemini patches -- I was looking for a Molly Brown patch but hadn't thought of making my own!

I got a chance to visit the Grissom Memorial over the holidays and it was great to see the real Molly Brown and the rest of the museum -- nice collection of artifacts.

By the way, our very own Steve Grissom, cS member, deserves the credit for the great collection upstairs -- some awe-inspiring things up there, including the flag that covered Lt Col Grissom's coffin. Sobering, but I was very thankful to be able to see those things. Nice job, Steve.

I've posted some pictures from my trip -- along w/ a look at my boy "Gus" - President and Chief Noise Maker at Gusmobile Memorabilia. He's modeling a t-shirt w/ the patch on it -- wear yours so someone will come up to you and say "Who the heck is Virgil?!"

John

posted January 24, 2008 03:16 AM               

Thanks for the opportunity of obtaining such a high quality replica of the Molly Brown Patch.

Thanks for giving us the opportunity of sharing your visit to the Grissom Memorial. That will be on a future itinerary.

posted January 24, 2008 04:46 PM               

Very nice. I'm glad you were able to do this; I guess we can consider this the first installment of the Gemini repro patches??

I ordered two, also. I've always been a fan of Gus's, and have the Boomhower book, too.

posted January 24, 2008 07:34 PM               

And, yes, I was very much in awe seeing the flag that draped Grissom's coffin.

posted January 25, 2008 01:37 PM               

In downtown Mitchell stands the Gus Grissom Monument, a scaled-down limestone carving of Gus's Gemini rocket.

It is maybe 5 minutes away from the park and well worth checking out too.

--Marcy

posted January 30, 2008 02:46 AM               

Thanks a million, john.

posted January 30, 2008 08:10 PM               

Thanks again for the kind words of encouragement. I have 26 of the "greeting cards" left so if that interests you, order now...

After that, I'll be selling the patches w/ simpler packaging. Looks like this patch will be the "appetizer" for the Gemini Quality Reproductions project that Luc is working on. See that thread in the Patches and Pin section.

posted January 31, 2008 11:21 AM               

my patches arrived yesterday. I received the numbers 060+061. Great patches.

Thanks a lot.

posted February 05, 2008 07:29 PM               

Thanks everyone, for your outpouring of support for this little project.

posted February 07, 2008 05:56 AM               

Thank you John. It's a very nice repro and a very good way to begin the new collection of Luc (and you).

posted February 15, 2008 09:25 PM               

I suspect the public will be very glad to get a look at those items...! Can't wait.

If you bought a patch or two from me, your order should have arrived by now...

If you placed and order but haven't seen your patches, please contact me.

Thanks,

posted April 08, 2008 08:58 PM               

A round of applause for yourselves - I sent a donation in our names to the Grissom Memorial, c/o Steve Grissom, of just over $450 USD. Thanks for buying patches!