Pictures of Liberty Bell 7. See story below.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Media Contact: Melissa Tomasso
Pgr: 321-690-5610
June 08, 2000
LIBERTY BELL 7 UNVEILED AT KSCVC
KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, Fla. – The Mercury Spacecraft
Liberty Bell 7, recently restored after being recovered from its 38
year submersion three miles beneath the Atlantic Ocean, premieres
at Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex on June 17 and will
remain on display through September 17, 2000. An extensive,
interactive exhibit, The Lost Spacecraft: Liberty Bell 7 Recovered,
sponsored by The Discovery Channel, showcases this national
treasure. In addition to viewing the historic NASA capsule flown on
the second U.S. manned mission by astronaut Virgil I. “Gus”
Grissom in 1961, visitors to Kennedy Space Center will be able to
see the personal effects and equipment that survived decades
underwater.
“Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex is dedicated to telling the
NASA story --from America’s determination during the Space
Race with Russia to the triumphs of landing humans on the moon to
today’s International Space Station effort,” says Rick Abramson,
president and COO of Delaware North Parks Services,
concessionaire for the Visitor Complex. “Liberty Bell 7’s
extraordinary story is a prime example of NASA’s history that we
are privileged to showcase to the million guests from around the
world that will visit Kennedy Space Center this summer,”
Abramson added.
Liberty Bell 7, the first capsule to feature a viewing window, an
escape hatch and pilot controls, launched into sub-orbital flight from
Cape Canaveral, Fla., on July 21, 1961. Shortly after
“splashdown,” the explosive bolts opened the hatch prematurely,
causing the capsule to fill with water and sink. Grissom escaped
unharmed, but the spacecraft was lost in the Atlantic Ocean more
than three miles below the surface.
The capsule was located and retrieved exactly 38 years later by a
project funded by The Discovery Channel. Once raised to the
surface, the Liberty Bell 7 capsule was placed in a custom-built
steel transport container and sent for restoration and preservation.
A four-person crew painstakingly removed, cleaned and replaced
as many as 26,000 parts from Gus Grissom’s spacecraft. The
capsule will make a three-year national tour to leading museums and
science centers after its stay at Kennedy Space Center Visitor
Complex.
Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex – which draws more than
2.8 million visitors a year – is open from 9 a.m. to dusk every day
except December 25 and certain launch days. Admission is $24
adults and $15 children ages 3-11. Kennedy Space Center Visitor
Complex is located 45 minutes east of Orlando, Fla. For more
information, call 321/452-2121 or visit the web site at
www.KennedySpaceCenter.com
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