The Surprise Show: 2018

Thursday, July 12, 2018

THE LOST SPACECRAFT: Liberty Bell 7 Recovered

This

1941

"Mercury head" dime w
as sent aboard the Liberty Bell 7, one-man Mercury mission piloted by Virgil I. (Gus) Grissom into space, July 21, 1961.

The sub-orbital flight lasted 15 minutes and 37 seconds. After splashdown, emergency explosive bolts unexpectedly fired and blew the hatch off, causing water to flood into the spacecraft. Quickly exiting through the open hatch and into the ocean, Grissom nearly drowned as water began filling his spacesuit. A recovery helicopter tried to lift and retrieve the spacecraft, but the flooding spacecraft became too heavy, and it was ultimately cut loose before sinking. The Liberty Bell was lost at sea.

The Liberty Bell capsule was recovered on July 20, 1999, the 30ᵀᴴ anniversary of the Apollo 11 lunar landing; at least 52 souvenir "Mercury head" dimes were discovered, covered by 38 years of corrosive ocean salt, at a depth of 16,000 feet where the crushing pressure is 7,000 pounds per square inch; dime recovered and went on tour in June 2000 and exhibited January 27, 2001 - June 3, 2001 @ Liberty Science Center Jersey City, NJ. as "THE LOST SPACECRAFT: Liberty Bell 7 Recovered."