21 July 1961: Mercury 4 lifted off from Florida's Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, carrying Gus Grissom (1926-1967), U.S.A.F. aboard the Mercury capsule Liberty Bell 7 atop a Redstone rocket for a suborbital flight; the escape hatch blew unexpectedly shortly after splashdown, the Liberty Bell 7 filled with seawater, & sank into the Atlantic Ocean; Grissom was recovered by the U.S.S. Randolph.
Commentary: Gus Grissom is a fondly familiar face to regular readers of The Secret Base, between this year's "Explorers' Club" episode about the fifty-fifth anniversary of Gemini 3 (Wayback Machine № DCCXXXIX) & our annual commemoration of the Apollo 1 disaster (Wayback Machine Apollo 1).
The Liberty Bell 7 was recovered on 20 July 1999 from a depth of nearly sixteen thousand feet (16,000 ft.), was painstakingly cleaned & restored, & is now proudly displayed as a museum piece.
Bonus! Space Race Song o' Mercury-Redstone 4
Fountains of Wayne, "Sink to the Bottom" from Fountains of Wayne (Space Cadet Mike Papa Whiskey)
Semper Exploro.
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