WI: Grissom Drowns in Liberty Bell 7, 1961

[Emperor Norton I]

That could be a bigger blow than him just getting killed. (I do imagine NASA getting nutty about the psych tests, tho.)

IMO, you're right, the program wouldn't just end. The issue is the disconnect between public perception & the attitude of the astronauts. The astronauts, all test pilots, will say they should press on regardless. The media, all ignorant weenies, will say it's too dangerous...

I'm not saying it was actually possible for him to just say "f*ck it" and commit space suicide. No way he would. What I'm saying is that the song could be interpreted (barring butterflies preventing its existence) as a reinterpretation of those events in fiction. Something Bowie would deny, since it wasn't. Albeit Gus is three letters and Tom is three letters, so the argument of AH reality music nerds could be he changed it to better fit, and I could see all sorts of links with an AH writer's eye but there isn't a reason to go into them since I'm not writing a timeline.
The likeliest views in a blown-out scenario would be the ones we actually had: something malfunctioned or Grissom screwed up.

 

[phx1138]

I'm not saying it was actually possible for him to just say "f*ck it" and commit space suicide. No way he would.

Oh, no, I meant in the not being able to examine the spacecraft & know what happened, there'd be room for speculation, & that alone would be a big hurt.

The likeliest views in a blown-out scenario would be the ones we actually had: something malfunctioned or Grissom screwed up.

Which would cover the space buffs & the SF crowd. The conspiracy loons & the media & public at large, plus no small number of Congresscritters, OTOH....

 

[Emperor Norton I]

Grissom helped in designing Gemini. What would happen without him, and in reaction to his death where it concerns project Gemini?

 

[Craig]

Agreed. If that were to happen, the space program just got a bullet between the eyes.

On the other hand, it could be a "Kasserine Pass" moment.

 

[Emperor Norton I]

If the hatch blew off in suborbit, Grissom would be blown out and quickly die, according to my quick googling.

Gravity tends to keep air molecules concentrated near the ground, so the atmosphere thins out as you go up. The air becomes so thin at 10,000 feet (3,000 meters) or so that airplane cabins must be pressurized above that altitude to prevent occupants from suffering from hypoxia, or lack of oxygen. Because temperature and pressure go hand-in-hand (i.e. low-pressure air feels cold), pressurization is also necessary to keep cabins sufficiently warm. At 35,000 feet (11,000 m), the typical altitude of a commercial jet, the air pressure drops to less than a quarter of its value at sea level, and the outside temperature drops below negative 60 degrees Fahrenheit (negative 51 degrees Celsius), according to The Engineering Toolbox. Exposed to such conditions, you would quickly die.

 

[tchizek]

If the hatch blew off in suborbit, Grissom would be blown out and quickly die, according to my quick googling.

Well wasn't he strapped in? and in a space suit? I am not sure how good the suits were at the time, if they were just pressure suits then yes he would die quickly, but if they were actual space suits then he had a chance to at least call in, report what was happening and die heroically trying to get the craft back on the ground - not possible. But probably better for the program than just dying of a blowout.

 

[phx1138]

Looking again (somehow I missed it the first time...), the question of recovery of the spacecraft, if it sinks, butterflies the development of udw recovery systems like Trieste, Alvin, &/or DSRV.