A literal description of my state of mind
A literal description of my state of mind
Gus Grissom was the astronaut for the second manned suborbital flight in the Mercury series, and his capsule was named the Liberty Bell 7.
The flight was fully successful, but upon splashdown the capsule hatch prematurely opened and the capsule sank into the sea.*
The Liberty Bell 7 was finally found and recovered in 1999. The Discovery Channel did several shows on it, and it has been touring the country. It is scheduled to be reutrned 'home' and back on display at the Kansas Cosmosphere before the end of the year.
* Forget that crap from The Right Stuff, Gus Grissom was fully exonerated later by NASA after tests proved his claim that the hatch could indeed 'just blew'. (yeah, I know the quote doesn't quite fit right... deal)
Posted by Ted at September 7, 2003 10:59 AM | TrackBackIt's too bad the movie didn't at least work that part in...but anyone who digs even a little bit knows the truth.
Posted by: Jennifer at September 7, 2003 01:29 PMHow did they blame Gus for the hatch blowing? (I didn't see the movie). Seems silly.
You know "The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald" by Gordon Lightfoot? It has a line "..at 7pm the main hatchway caved in..."
Caved in? CAVED IN?!!!!
I love the song, and played it once at an acoustic open-mike night a few years ago, but just HAD to change the line to "..when 7 came 'round the main hatch had blown out..."
Nobody noticed the difference, but I felt better. mheh.
I love that song. It inspired several hours of research into the Edmund Fitzgerald, which in turn inspired many hours of research into other Great Lakes shipwrecks. Having been born in Superior, Wisconsin, I have a bit of a fixation on the Great Lakes in general.
Oh, but the Gus thing...they didn't believe him that the hatch blew.
Posted by: Jennifer at September 7, 2003 09:41 PM