Virgil “Gus” Grissom (Lieutenant Colonel, USAF) became the second American to fly into space…and his Mercury spacecraft is now on display at the Cosmosphere in Hutchinson, KS, through the end of 2020!
On July 21, 1961, Grissom launched aboard the Mercury-Redstone 4 (aka “Liberty Bell 7” or LB7) from Cape Canaveral, Florida. After an historic and successful 15-minute suborbital flight, the splashdown of LB7 became a story of survival. Once in the water the hatch of the spacecraft malfunctioned and the craft quickly filled with water. Grissom fought for his life as helicopters tried to save LB7. Grissom was rescued, but sadly after many attempts at recovery, LB7 sank to the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean, where it was recovered in 1999. During the restoration process (which was completed by the Cosmosphere), technicians found a treasure trove of artifacts including a signal mirror, dollar bill, and a bar of Dial soap…still in the package.
Fun fact: the Mercury-Redstone name refers to the Mercury capsules, which were launched atop Redstone rockets. Each Mercury Astronaut followed the pilot’s tradition of naming their aircrafts, and included the number “7” on each selection to commemorate the original 7 Astronauts. Grissom named his spacecraft LB7 after to the capsule’s bell shape, and “Liberty’s” synonymous meaning to the word freedom. As an homage to the original Liberty Bell, the spacecraft included a “crack” painted on the side.
This week, plan your 4th of July Staycation at the Cosmosphere! Experience spectacular stories of achievement in U.S. history by getting up close and personal with REAL spacecraft and artifacts. This week, we’re featuring stories about our new X-Plane Gallery, Liberty Bell 7, Apollo 13 Odyssey, and newly displayed artifacts from the personal collection of Neil Armstrong. (Photo: Cosmosphere)
Faster than the Speed of Sound
On October 14, 1947, U.S. Air Force General Charles “Chuck” Yeager became the first pilot to fly faster than the speed of sound.
Flying in the Bell X-1 rocket engine-powered aircraft (nicknamed Glamorous Glennis after Yeager’s wife), Yeager dropped the plane from the bomb bay of a B-29 — and achieved supersonic flight over Rogers Dry Lake in the Mojave Desert. In “the most historic ride since the Wright Brothers,” Yeager reached Mach 1.06 (700 mph) at an altitude of 45,000 feet. Fun fact: the “Mach” number, or the ratio of one’s speed to that of sound, and was named after physicist Ernst Mach, who photographed an object moving faster than the speed of sound in 1887.
The Cosmosphere is proud to display this replica of “The Orange Beast” from the Oscar-winning film “The Right Stuff” in our new X-Plane Gallery. And check-out the XLR-11 rocket engine which propelled the Bell X-1 into history, and an XMC-2 spacesuit worn by test pilot (and shuttle Astronaut) Joe Engle on the X-15…which he flew above 266,000 feet. (Photo: Cosmosphere)
The Falcon Heavy Nebula
Photo: Sandy Marshall
This is from the first night launch of the SpaceX Falcon Heavy (circa June 2019 at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center), which ferried new tech & experiments to space: ranging from greener rocket fuel to a Deep Space Atomic Clock. What appears to be a supernova in this photo is actually the Falcon Heavy’s booster separation. A few minutes into launch, the side boosters separate from the center core booster, and two things happen at once: the second stage fires-up and carries the payload into orbit, while the first stage fires engines and returns to Earth. (If you’re curious, the FH runs on kerosene and liquid oxygen.) This cluster of exhaust particles reflects light as the rocket engines burn through fuel, creating several seconds of an otherworldly phenomenon that’s right out of sci-fi.
Trip to Mars
Next month on July 20th at 9.15 EST, NASA will launch the Mars Perseverance rover towards Mars’ 28-mile wide Jezero Crater for a targeted landing on February 18, 2021. The launch window beginning on July 20th has been projected since the rover was announced in December 2012, and marks the 51st anniversary of the historic Apollo 11 moon landing on July 20, 1969. In the event of inclement weather, the launch window will last until August 11th, since Mars and Earth need to be on the same side of the sun during the launch. This will be NASA’s 9th spacecraft to visit Mars, and the first to collect samples for future return to Earth. (Photo: artist concept of an astronaut on Mars, as viewed through the window of a spacecraft. Credit: NASA.)
Now Launching: REACH: A Space Podcast for Kids
Artwork by Steven Lyons
Very excited to launch a new family-friendly children’s podcast entitled “Reach: A Space Podcast for Kids” a show I co-created and am co-producing alongside Chicago’s Soundsington Media. REACH is based on questions from kids about our galaxy (and beyond) with hosts Brian Holden and Meredith Stepien, and features fun at-home experiments and interviews with subject matter experts & thought partners from leading institutions. With music by Jesse Case, and artwork by Steven Lyons. Expert interviews from institutions like NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, the Cosmosphere, Adler Planetarium, and Exploration Place…and guest appearances from talented performers from shows like Stargate SG-1, Stranger Things, and The Good Place. Available wherever you get your podcasts!
Backstage Door to Space
Photo: Sandy Marshall
This is the famous walkway at the Neil Armstrong Operations and Checkout Building at Kennedy Space Center. The building is the astronaut’s version of a green room, home to crew quarter dorms and suit-up rooms. This specific set of doors has been made famous by countless photos and films documenting the 10-second walk down the ramp. On launch days, astronauts would wave to cameras before hopping in the Astrovan (or in 2020: a Tesla Model X) for the 9-mile ride to Launch Complex 39-A. Today, for the first time since the shuttle era, NASA is scheduled to launch 2 astronauts from KSC aboard the SpaceX Falcon 9 & Crew Dragon at 4:33 EST for a trip to the ISS. Great second screen content for when you’re muted and multitasking on that afternoon conference call.
First Spacewalking Trio
On this day in 1992, NASA completed the first-ever 3-person spacewalk on the Space Shuttle Endeavour’s inaugural mission. Astronauts Richard J. Hieb, Thomas D. Akers and Pierre J. Thuot, pictured here, move a 4.5 ton communications satellite (about the size of a couple of Jeep’s). The mission also set a record for the first mission to feature 4 spacewalks. Fun facts: a spacewalk is usually called an EVA (aka “extravehicular activity), and it takes about 45 minutes to put on (aka “don”) a spacesuit. Also about the time it takes to watch an episode of Battlestar. So say we all. (Photo: NASA)
Morning Wake-Up Music
30 years ago: the Hubble Space Telescope was launched aboard the Space Shuttle Discovery (shown here). Built to give us a view from “the ultimate mountaintop,” Hubble led to new discoveries about black holes and an accelerating expansion of the universe. Fun fact: after astronauts completed the famed 1993 in-orbit repair, mission control played the song “I Can See Clearly Now” for the traditional wake-up music the following morning. Hubble will be succeeded by the James Webb Space Telescope, scheduled to launch in March 2021 on an Ariane 5 rocket from French Guiana, to observe the most distant objects and unexplored planets in the universe. For the Hubble’s 30th anniversary, you can download iconic images taken with the Wide Field and Planetary Camera 2 (aka “WFPC2”) via JPL. Great for backgrounds on those Zoom meetings. (Photo: NASA)