By ROD ZOOK
Hutch Post
HUTCHINSON, Kan. — Mercury 7 and Apollo 1 Astronaut Gus Grissom would have celebrated his 95th birthday April 3.
While Grissom never got a chance to see what the Cosmopshere has to offer in the space race, his legacy certainly lives on there with the Liberty Bell 7 spacecraft on display.
“It’s an exciting day to celebrate one of the icons in early man space exploration,” Cosmosphere President Jim Remar said. “Obviously a pretty close tie to the Cosmosphere.”
Grissom was the second American astronaut to go into space. But the mission took a turn for the worst when the spacecraft was lost at sea until 1999.
“In the final checkout after splashdown, the hatch blew prematurely and water flooded the capsule,” Remar said. “Grissom survived, but the capsule sank. In 1999, the Cosmosphere, along with the Oceaneering and the Discovery Channel, recovered the capsule, brought it back here, we restored it, and it is now part of the permanent collection of the Cosmosphere”
While you can see the Liberty Bell 7 at the Cosmopshere right now, the spacecraft will be going on tour later this summer.
“The capsule still maintains a relevance throughout the world. It’s one of the most recognizable artifacts,” Remar said. “It will be leaving, probably in June, and heading down to Sao Paulo, Brazil, where it will be on display down there for approximately four months.”
Remar did not say if the capsule will stay in Latin America after that or return home. Not only does the tour promote the Cosmosphere, it also provides needed revenue for the museum to operate and offer the many programs it does. Like always, Remar does get a little nervous when such an artifact leaves the museum for another destination.
The Cosmosphere is one of only two space museums with a flown space craft from the Mercury, Gemini and Apollo missions.
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