In Search of Liberty Bell 7

With all the hoopla in the past few years of diving to the deeps and finding lost shipwrecks, it would be nice for a little change of pace. Too much Titanic this, Bismarck that? How about looking for something else? Something, like, say, a spaceship. Today’s FamSite is ready to serve that up.

The site we visit today is courtesy of the Discovery Channel, a cable TV network. Here you can visit their victorious attempt to find the only US spacecraft that was lost at sea. In the summer of 1961, in the very beginning of the space race to the moon, our second manned space flight by Gus Grissom was conducted. It was a sub-orbital flight, lasting about 15 minutes launch to splashdown. However while it was in the water, something occurred which caused the hatch to be blown open early, and the spacecraft sank, never to be seen again… until yesterday. On May 2, 1999, a team of explorers successfully found the craft on the bottom of the ocean, three miles deep. Unfortunately the craft they were going to use to recover it became lost, and they are both on the bottom. In July, 1999, they returned to the site and reclaimed this piece of American history.

At this site you will be able to follow the restoration and tour of the restored craft, as well as the history of the Liberty Bell 7, and the astronaut. It is a very interesting site that will add to the history of our space program. Be sure to bookmark the site and return often.

http://www.discovery.com/exp/libertybell7/libertybell7.html