| NASA Center: |
Johnson Space Center |
|---|
| Image # : |
S-61-2826 |
|---|
| Date : |
07/22/1961
|
|---|
|
Title
Failed Attempt to Recover Liberty Bell 7
Full Description
After the hatch "Liberty Bell 7" opened prematurely, gallons of seawater entered
the spacecraft. A helicopter recovery team attempted to empty the water, as seen
in this photo. Seconds after this picture was taken, the Marine helicopter
dropped the spacecraft because it was too heavy to continue lifting, and the
capsule sank to the ocean floor. Astronaut Virgil I. Grissom was still in the
water at the time, and his head is seen bobbing next to the capsule. Grissom
almost drowned, but was rescued by a second helicopter before his suit filled up
with too much water.
The Liberty Bell 7 was eventually recovered from 15,000 feet below
the surface of the Atlantic on July 20, 1999.
Keywords
Liberty Bell 7 Virgil Grissom Mercury Recovery
Subject Category
Mercury-Program, Mercury-Gemini Spacecraft, Spacecraft Landings,
Reference Numbers
- Center:
JSC
- Center Number:
S-61-2826
- GRIN DataBase Number:
GPN-2002-000047
Source Information
- Creator/Photographer: NASA
- Original Source: DIGITAL
| Resolution | Format | Width
(Pixels) | Height
(Pixels) | Size
(KBytes) |
Thumbnail |
JPEG |
85 |
66 |
7 |
Small |
JPEG |
606 |
467 |
181 |
Medium |
JPEG |
1421 |
1095 |
975 |
Large |
JPEG |
1 |
2190 |
6,212 |
Other relevant NASA Web sites:
• NASA Headquarters
• NASA History Office
• NASA Image eXchange (NIX)
• NASA Multimedia Gallery
• NASA Human Spaceflight
Updated October 31, 2002
• History Questions: NASA History Office
• Responsible NASA Official: Steve Garber
• Author: Michael Hahn. Editor: Dwayne A. Day
• Curator & Technical Questions: Erin Needham
• NASA's Privacy Statement
|
