I had the distinct pleasure of spending Monday and Tuesday at the Kansas Cosmosphere, where I attended the first public viewing of the newly recovered Apollo F-1 rocket engines on Monday night. See http://www.collectspace.com/news/news-052113a.html.
Yesterday, I was given a tour of the Cosmosphere -- which is awesome if you are interested in space exploration -- and then a special look into the archives, where I was given an opportunity to examine and handle Gus Grissom's Randall Astro from Liberty Bell 7 and some of the other artifacts recovered from the space capsule. This was a rare treat.
Here are some photos that the Cosmosphere graciously allowed me to take and post here. Enjoy!
Here is a Camillus pocket knife that was also recovered from the Mercury capsule:
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David RKCC No. 654 RKS No. 5462 SHAG No. 003 NRA Life Member www.explorerconsulting.com
The launch crew put a signed dollar bill and Liberty dimes in the capsule so they could be flown in space and returned to them as keepsakes. This is a common practice that people do on space launches, dives, expeditions, flights, etc.
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David RKCC No. 654 RKS No. 5462 SHAG No. 003 NRA Life Member www.explorerconsulting.com
That is WAY COOL! Since I learned of the capsule recovery, I wondered how the knife fared after all those submerged decades.
Thanks for sharing with us Randallphiles.
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David Longenecker R.K.C.C. #CM83 RKS#1691 N.R.A. Endowment Life Member Residing somewhere in the Ubiquitous States of Amnesia
Here is something new that I learned yesterday: the conservation team recovered a smoked cigarette butt and little cup used as an ashtray from inside the capsule. How is that for a mystery?
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David RKCC No. 654 RKS No. 5462 SHAG No. 003 NRA Life Member www.explorerconsulting.com