Mercury Liberty Bell 7 Flown and Recovered Shutoff Valve

Flown Aireasearch Environmental Control Unit (ECU) component recovered from the Liberty Bell 7 spacecraft wreckage almost 38 years to the day after the Mercury capsule and its contents sank to the bottom of the sea. Gus Grissom was the pilot of this sub-orbital mission, America’s second-ever spaceflight; he barely escaped from the capsule as it floated in the Atlantic Ocean after splashdown, when a hatch exploded prematurely. Grissom was rescued, but Liberty Bell 7 sank into the ocean.

Gus Grissom describes the event just prior to the explosive bolts on the hatch firing: “I had unhooked the oxygen inlet hose and was lying flat on my back when suddenly the hatch blew off with a dull thud. All I could see was blue sky and sea water rushing in over the sill.”

The tubing unit measures approximately 9 x 6 x 5.5 and is stenciled with black part information, “Airesearch Phx, Shutoff Valve, 222 60-1, MN-SVP 12-9-1, S/N 50P 34.” Accompanied by a certificate of authenticity signed by Curt Newport, who led the ocean expedition to find the Liberty Bell 7, certifying that the piece “was part of the Liberty Bell 7 Mercury spacecraft (McDonnell Aircraft Capsule No. 11) on July 21, 1961, and recovered, along with the spacecraft on July 20, 1999.”