LIBERTY BELL 7
60 years ago today, Gus Grissom became the second American to fly to space, and while the flight was nominal, his hatch blew prematurely after splashdown, and his Mercury LB7 capsule sank to the bottom of the sea, with Grissom nearly drowning.
The capsule was recovered in 1999 from a depth of 16K ft., deeper than the Titanic. The Cosmosphere Museum did the restoration work, selling some bolts and corroded components to help finance the restoration. This flown radio and oxygen shutoff valve are two of the largest LB7 artifacts in a private collection.
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