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Space History Photo: Grissom Onboard the USS Randolph

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The Mercury pilot, flanked by military medical officers, is on the U.S.S. Randolph after his 1961 mission.
The Mercury pilot, flanked by military medical officers, is on the U.S.S. Randolph after his 1961 mission. (Image credit: NASA)

In this historical photo from the U.S. space agency, Astronaut Virgil I. "Gus" Grissom, pilot of the Mercury spacecraft, "Liberty Bell 7" arrives aboard the recovery ship, U.S.S. Randolph, following his 15 minute 37 seconds suborbital space mission.

He is flanked by military medical officers. Grissom's capsule sank soon after splashdown and was not recovered until nearly forty years later.

Each weekday, SPACE.com looks back at the history of spaceflight through photos (archive).

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U.S. Space Agency

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) is the U.S. government agency in charge of the civilian space program as well as aeronautics and aerospace research. Founded in 1958, NASA is a civilian space agency aimed at exploring the universe with space telescopes,  satellites, robotic spacecraft, astronauts and more. The space agency has 10 major centers based across the U.S. and launches robotic and crewed missions from the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral Florida. It's astronaut corps is based at the Johnson Space Center in Houston. To follow NASA's latest mission, follow the space agency on Twitter or any other social channel, of visit: nasa.gov.