The cute Mercury Lamp, looks a bit like PIXAR’s Luxo Jr. excited for the first American space hops!
This launch pad floodlight comes from the gantry structure of Complex 5 at Cape Canaveral where Al Shepard and Gus Grissom made their suborbital flights in 1961, becoming the first and second American in space. This light was on display at the USAF Space Museum after gantry tower disassembly in 1964, and signed by “Alan Shepard, MR-3 Pilot, Launch Pad 5″ and “Pad 5 Pad Leader, Guenter F. Wendt”.
Liberty Bell 7 undergoing prelaunch activities with the “cherry picker” at Pad 5 prior to Gus Grissom’s MR-4 flight, signed his son, Scott Grissom. The photo was a gift from pad leader Guenter Wendt.
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