Liberty Bell 7 - Full Mission
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- Опубліковано 16 вер 2012
- The full launch and flight of Mercury-Redstone 4 (Liberty Bell 7) with astronaut Gus Grissom aboard. July 21st 1961.
I have used some original braodcast video, stock footage and Orbiter Spaceflight Simulator sequences to show the mission as best I can.
Audio is the NASA tapes of the Mercury Control Center Capcom Alan Shepard and Gus with John Powers' commentary used at the end of the flight. The reason not to include Powers' commentary is because of the conflict it caused when played with the other audio. Powers' audio is available at the NASA audio archive.
All footage and photos are courtesy NASA. - Наука та технологія
Gus Grissom is a hero in every sense of the word. He worked hand-in-hand through the development of Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo, and gave his life for the business and endeavor that he loved.
In a press interview before the tragic accident, Gus had this to say:
"The conquest of space is worth the risk of life. Our God-given curiosity will force us to go there ourselves; because, in the final analysis, only man can truly examine the moon in ways understandable to other men"
Gus got a bad rap. He's an amazing pilot and American hero.
I agree. Rest In Peace Gus Grissom!
The movie The Right Stuff did him dirty, a dead man who couldn't defend himself.
If he was a "squirming hatch blower" on this flight NASA would not have put him in command of Apollo 1.
smh, movies lol
I remember that part! Great movie.
Never mind Gemini 3.
I agree with you
Some people in the business still think he blew the hatch himself
Gus was a great Astronaut and engineer. His missions serve as foundations to the success of all space flights.
Many folks thought Gus did something wrong and the result was that door blew off. You gotta remember the systems in that day were all brand new and glitchy as hell. Old Gus did all right!
Well said Chuck
The hatch system worked perfectly well on the first flight. There is no shame in someone making an error, and that is what he did.
@@Sootaroot it was a different hatch system from shepherd’s flight. But he did remove the cover to the switch and then pulled out the pin, but I don’t believe he pushed it. I believe him on that one.
@@Sootaroot How would you know, if the actual engineers don't?
Dude didn't get the attention of the Golden Boy senator from Ohio. Life isn't fair.
At first I thought, "An entire space mission in a 22-minute video?" Then I remembered that Gus and Al's Mercury flights were nice and concise.
Watched the coverage of this when it happened. It was amazing then and it is still amazing to me now. Grissom was a great pilot and a brave man. As were they all.
Best voice of all the astronauts.
Ed White had a very commanding, very pleasant voice to listen to as well. Deep and rich.
That capsule is very small. Those astronauts had to have guts to not only get in one but go into orbit.They truly had the right stuff. 👍🇺🇸👏Gus R.I.P a true hero.
Spam in a can.
I'm so happy that they were able to recover Liberty Bell 7 from the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean back in 1999. I was fortunate to download the entire documentary about the recovery off of UA-cam back in 2020 before it was removed in its entirety. We will always remember the brave men and women who've given their lives for the Exploration of Outer Space. GOD Bless Them All!!!!!
Would you mind sharing that documentary somehow? I would be interested too
Why did they remove it? How odd.
I don't think I've ever actually heard Gus Grissom's voice before. It's so strange to think you're hearing and watching someone who died 30 years before you were born. These guys helped make science fiction every-day life.
He had a very pleasant, very masculine voice 🥰👍.
I was literally just thinking that. I was born in late '80s, well into STS, but I've loved space since I was a kid. It makes me mourn the loss of the Apollo 1 crew over again. That calm voice and iron nerve, lost before their time.
Unfortunately I first heard his voice in the recording just before he died while he was inside the Apollo 1 Crew Module. It's linked to or hosted on Wikipedia. The poor bugger...
I love the joke by Alan Shepard to Gus at liftoff, "loud and clear Jose, don't cry too much", which was in reference to the character Jose Jimenez created by the comedian Bill Dana who was officially made an honorary Mercury astronaut.
Thanks for the comment Steve and for the add on Mixcloud - hope you like some of the shows there. regards LM5
Footnote: Dana was made an honorary Mercury astronaut for creating a racist caricature, which Dana later apologized for and "killed" in 1970. This space mission was great, but it is an unfortunate fact of history that these astronauts gained popularity in part because of Dana's horrible characterization of Latina/os. See Raul Perez, "Brownface Minstrelsey: "Jose Jimenez," the Civil Rights Movement, and the legacy of racist comedy," in Ethnicities, 2014, for an in-depth discussion of the character.
Ah, so Shepard was Capcom. I was wondering.
Not really racism and besides it's hilarious!!!
+Roger Almendarez-Jiménez lighten up, Alfredo
After his Mercury flight, Wally Shirra intentionally blew his hatch on the boat, and had the distinct burn marks associated with hatch emergency jettison. Gus Grissom had none. Shirra proved once and for all his friend was correct. Grissom did not “accidentally” blow his hatch.
Aviyaytor yes he did
@@davidmoser7849 not at all. The opening hatch should have caused some injuries on Gus harm and or hand.
He was definitely safe and unharmed.
Why would the burn marks be any different?
The Mercury capsule was salvaged...and inspected a few years ago...Grissom was right...
Just glad it didn't blow while in space or reentry.
'Gus' Grissom was a helluva pilot and astronaut. In the movie, "The Right Stuff', he was portrayed as being somewhat crude but, in fact, he was the type of person that leads in tough situations. If he had a problem... it was his wife who saw him as an avenue to fame and fortune.
In memory of Liberty Bell 7 and Apollo 1 - Gus Grissom.
Also Gemini 3, The Unsinkable Molly Brown.
From just about everything I researched of the early astronauts from Mercury into the Apollo program, Gus was of the most intelligent, well liked, and experienced members of all those groups. God bless him for his contribution and sacrifice to the USA's exploration of space.
100 combat missions in Korea, test pilot at Edwards and Astronaut extraordinaire.
It's such a tragedy that Gus never got to see Liberty Bell 7 again.
Gus loved his capsule, it was his domain when he went to space for the first time. If he ever saw it again he would be really pleased to see it again...
They made Grissom a scapegoat for the hatch blowing. That feature was a glitch in the first place. First, It took considerable force on the actuator to get it to fire. And when it did, it recoiled, injuring the user's hand. John Glenn's hand was cut and bruised from it when it blew his hatch off on the NOA.
Not to mention when they recovered the capsule they looked and found the handle still pinned in place.
He had trouble getting the last pin in, he said it on the radio…did that have anything to do with it??
I have the book, WE SEVEN (published in 1962 by Simon & Schuster), in which each of the Mercury astronauts write briefly about their early careers, their feelings about the missions to space, etc. Grissom recounted his early experience as a young Air Force pilot, his degree in engineering at Purdue, and his coolness under fire as he fought against Soviet MIGS in Korea. He indicates that he wasn't seeking glory, but just the chance to help out in the development of the Space Program. Obviously, he was selected as one of the SEVEN out of hundreds of candidates!
I'm convinced, he did it right!
Cool.calm.collected.The right stuff
Yep!🥰🥰👍 The best of the best.
May God Bless Gus, Ed and Roger.
WOW! How amazing to hear the entire flight. If you ever watched the movie "The Right Stuff" , Grissom was portrayed as a cowboy who botched the mission by blowing the hatch. Gus was the consummate test pilot. There could have been nothing further from the truth concerning his actions. He notified MC that he could not get one of the safety pins inserted. Helicopters generate tremendous static electricity as the blades stir through the air column. There is no doubt enough electricity shot through the winch cable upon hookup, surged through the ungrounded/unsafe circuit and blew the hatch squibs. He instructed the recovery crew to hold off until he could complete the checklist and note each item. There is no way he blew the hatch. Unfortunately, this experience led to his doom along with Ed White and Roger Chaffee, as the door on the Apollo CM could not be blown. Such a shame! Gus Grissom's footprints should be on the Moon.
I remember reading that he was told that he would get the first moon landing (not sure if Slayton could have/would have done that)
Cet incident la NASA ne lui en a pas tenu rigueur par la suite. Gus était un excellent technicien. Malheureusement pour lui les résultats de cette trappe avec les boulons explosif n'ont été connu peu après sa mort et ces boulons étaient défaillants !!! D'ailleurs malgré cet incident la NASA avait confiance en Gus et il était prévu en interne que se soit lui qui fasse les premiers pas sur la Lune !!!
Probably the most accurate assumption I've heard. 💯
Gus grissom insisted pilots should control the aircraft and not merely be passengers
The consensus seems to be that a static discharge occurred when the helicopter latched onto the spacecraft, thus sending an electrical charge into the ground circuit. Careful analysis of the motion picture footage revealed that the hatch blew at the moment the 'claw' touched the grab bar at the top of the spacecraft. Gus never blew the hatch.
The static electricity jumped to the hook when it was about 6 inches away.The DC voltage ran all over the wiring including the hatch causing it to blow.NASA knew this as soon as Gus got an exam by the doctors on the aircraft carrier.He didn't have a bruise on his leg like they all had when shoving in the steel rod to blow the hatch.If Gus had blown the hatch he would have never flown again just like Scott Carpenter.
Had the horrible tragedy with Apollo 1 not occurred.
Gus Grissom would have probably been the first man on the moon (Along with Ed White).
I saw the Liberty Bell 7 capsule when it was on tour. I can't imagine how difficult it would have been to get inside that capsule. There was so little room. I remember there was something mentioned about how the seats had to be custom formed for each astronaut.
Hearing him during re-entry really drives home just how hard on the body those high G-forces can be. For a few seconds he weighed 1500 lbs!
It's amazing how he talks it's like he's just driving a bus there's no doubt my mind that has it was a malfunction Mr Grissom was too cool to let that happen
just found your recreations during a binge on space exploration videos... they are brilliant! the animations really give you the impression of watching the action in real time. it brings to life the reality and bravery of what these people were trying to do, not to mention the sheer terror! yet they are conversing as though they're calling a baseball game. unreal. anyone even remotely curious about space should see these!
Jim Lovell has said many times that the Apollo 1 fire not occurred when it did that they don’t think they would have survived reentry and safely landed during the Apollo 13 mission
Gus Grissom spoke of the risk in interviews and in his memoir. He was aware of the risk to his life and yet he continued to move the program forward. The very definition of courage. His memoir was unfinished at the time of his death, but the publisher was able to complete it. (The copyright on my copy is 1968; they must have pushed it out as quickly as possible after the Apollo accident). As I wasn't even alive yet when all of this was happening, I have to seek all of this information, and I see it in it's historical context. Those of you who have actual first-hand memories of all of this happening-- what a thrill it must have been!! What a great period to be alive.
Walked into the Cosmosphere and had no idea this piece of history was there. I was awestruck. Worth the trip to see it.
Thank You for posting these full mission vids!!!! As a space junkie I love them. Keep 'em coming!!!!
Been watching your posts for some time now. Thank you for the great effort you have made! So fascinating!
Thanks Bill..as u may kniw...Apollo 11 is in progress...LM5
Wow. The balls of those guys. Hats off to you sirs!
RIP and long live Virgil “Gus” Grissom (April 3, 1926 - January 27, 1967), aged 40
You will always be remembered as a legend.
Tom Wolfe made him to appear undisciplined, so the movie portrayal does not fit the man that piloted the first Gemini mission, who was picked to pilot the first Apollo mission in which he lost his life. In all probability he probably would have been in another Apollo flight to the moon, possibly the first man to step foot on the moon.
Gus was one hell of a pilot.
Quite possibly, yes. Grissom was the only astronaut, if I recall correctly, who was going to be a "three-fer" up to Apollo - Mercury, Gemini, Apollo (Alan Shepard was passed over for flight during Gemini because of an inner ear disorder but his flight status was restored after he had surgery to correct it and he flew on Apollo 14 ; John Young was a three-fer with Gemini, Apollo, and Shuttle; John Glenn skipped from Mercury over Gemini and Apollo to fly on Shuttle).
@@hubbsllc
Slayton finally flew in the Shuttle.
10:58 JESUS CHRIST 6 to 9g in two fucking seconds!!! He was struggling as hell at 10g!!
Yeah, that escalated quickly, didn't it??
Gus was the founder of my school Virgil Grissom Elementary School
I got to room in Grissom Hall dormitory at college..😊🚀
Excellent to be able to view and listen to this.
Excellent video.
So Astronomy magazine just came out with a theory that there was an electrical arc that caused the hatch to blow, I am no electrical expert but it sounds plausible.
Love this. Thank you!
Interesting hearing Shephard and then Gus. Friendly, upbeat, relaxed versus a little grumpy and nervous.
Awesome video!!! Thanks!
Welcome Katy
5:26 I swear in "The Right Stuff" Grissom got pissed when the spacecraft was called a "capsule" lol.
Wow. He really struggled for a bit with those high G's during re-enty.
10 G's is a lot. I think anyone would struggle with that.
I doubt whether his anti-G suit was anything as effective as the suits that fast jet pilots use today.
Going from 3 to 10 in seconds would be crazy
A shame they couldn't find the hatch when they finally brought LB7 up, but I've never thought Gus fired the charge, either on purpose too early or accidentally. Always felt it was a flaw in the capsule itself.
When they examined the hatch they found that the door trigger had not been fired. Proving conclusively that Grissom was telling the truth.
It seems Gus had the right stuff but ground control sure didn't. He kept feeding the the info even when they did not respond. He said he dumped the fuel 3 times and they did not respond. I did not hear him panic at all which was shown in the movie. Gus said could not replace the door pins on one of the explosive bolts which keeps them from going off. Ejection seats have similar pins that keep the seat from being accidentally ejected. They are usually removed for flight.
I'm glad we finally got the spacecraft back. A fitting memorial.
You guys are Incredible!
The Rise, fall, and redemption of Liberty Bell 7
The news media always gathered outside in the front yards of each of the astronauts homes to talk to the wives before and after each mission. Have you ever seen any videos of any of those front yard interviews?
How many people tried using the "Space" bar to execute the parachute?
Zero
Robert Dambeck nada
KSP forever.
I. Remember. I was ten and still love space exploration! Go Spacex!
Audio is out of sequence in the final splashdown/sinking
You're on your way Jose
Don’t judge figures of history by the movies they are portrayed in. Grissom had the right stuff and NASA had to blame someone. He wouldn’t of been the commander of Apollo 1 if he were anything but a hero!
I don't believe NASA ever thought Grissom blew the hatch. Schirra *proved* that the jett handle would slam back into your hand when activated (he blew it deliberately on the deck of the recovery ship) and had a bruise to show for it; no such bruise was observed on Grissom's hand during his post-flight exam. NASA did permanently ground some astronauts post-flight (Apollos 7 and 15) but if Grissom were blamed for Liberty Bell 7's hatch blow, he was "punished" with Gemini 3 and an early spot on the Apollo flight rotation.
This simulation seems to show MR4 landing west of the Florida peninsula... which is impossible. All launches from the Cape are eastward... (yeah, yeah, I'm a fucking geek)
My mom woke me up to watch this launch with Gus aboard being a constant springmill camper it was like our next door niebor took off was 5 years old remember it like it was yesterday big reason i joind the airforce
Hi there! I can't find the mission transcript other than the published report, have you found them? If so, please let me know. I would like to read them as sometimes I can't make out what they're saying.
Gee, wonder why they left the capsule in the ocean all those years...
They didn't have the technology to find it.
I remember watching these on tv as a pre schooler. Back when space travel was just a shade safer than Russian roulette.
At about 15:24 he says he cannot get one of the door pins in. I am assuming that this was a reference to the pin to prevent the explosive bolts from going off. Anyone know why the pins were pulled out initially?
Yes, i wondered the same thing!
I think he opened the hatch partially (or fully) to check on the parachute? You can hear him talking about a 6"x6" hole that had been ripped in it before saying that he could not get the pin back in.
He had trouble getting a door pin in, and a slight rip in his Shute…I wonder if that had anything to do with the premature door opening….
Since some of this was CBS footage, assuming you have the full CBS broadcast of the flight, hopefully you can post it.
I have seen a short CBS clip of the launch, but I'd like to see (if you have it) more of that network's broadcast of Liberty Bell m7, including Walter Cronkite's reaction to the spacecraft sinking.
Grissom In 1967 died at appolo 1 training....
Not training - a "plugs-out" ground test.
Virgil Ivan Grissom, the second American astronaut ,wore a silver space suit for his first excursion into space..
what caused the hatch to blow off preematurely
Are you using the Direct X 9 addon for Orbiter here?
does anyone remember the > ? ? ?
Estes re-released the 1:35 scale model of this space vehicle.
RocketTCoyote yeah the Estes mercury is one beautiful piece
What's the source for Grissom's audio during the reentry LOS blackout? Fascinating!
Wouldn't the tape have gone down with Liberty Bell 7?
Wow. Those early mercury astronauts were made of steel. If anyone deserved the right to fly up in a penis shaped rocket a la Blue Origin / Bezos, it was Grissom. Right up into the unknown, and lived to tell about it and inform future engineers and astronauts. Part of advancing space flight is figuring out what doesn't work, not just figuring out what does work.
LunarModule5 I assume there is no onboard footage I heard the onboard film was ruined when they recovered Liberty Bell 7, I see you have the onboard film for Freedom 7 (Alan Shepard)
You are correct!
what caused the hatch to blow off prematurely?
Certainly it was a malfunction.
I heard a rumor that had he lived, Gus would have been the "first man" instead of Neil Armstrong. Don't know if it's true.
Once again this link demonstrated that the 2021 modus operandi remains the same as in 1961.
I understand the need to test the retro pack, but why bother firing them retrograde? Doing so would just increase the angle of re-entry and firing them prograde would decrease re-entry loads and still test the retro rockets.
+Jonah Beale It looks like it actually helped. He says his maximum _g_ was 10.8 - Shepard got 11.6 on his flight. On a Mercury-Redstone flight the angle of re-entry was going to be steep no matter what. Slowing down using the retro pack made it a little bit gentler.
I don't understand the big deal about losing the capsule. Pilots are always taught that they are more important than the machine.
Wish they would hurrry the freak up and get Kerbal Space program out for the PS4. Announced it last summer.
He died later in the Apollo 1 mission😞.
Who the hell...is this Roger guy they keep speaking to?
old joke 😩
Babe Root roger
Roger whittaker
This must have been recorded in the spacecraft, but it sank. Did Grissom take the recording with him?
Buddy Cox Hi Buddy - this recording was made in mission control and not in the spacecraft. I do believe there was a recorder on-board Liberty Bell but Gus definitely did not take it with him before the capsule sank. regards LM5
But, if I heard correctly, you can hear Grissom during blackout but not Mercury Control.
Buddy CoxI am pretty certain there was no blackout period for MR3 or MR4 because they were suborbital. The retros were fired as a test but not actually needed. Its definitely from the ground recordings - I took out Shorty Powers commentary that was side by side on this recording. Perhaps MCC can be heard on that loop - I would need to go back and check. Maybe there is another reason why MCC cant be heard. Perhaps the recording was made at a different ground station. There will be a reason. Its an interesting question - I will endeavour to find out! regards LM5
Thank you - that explains it.
+lunarmodule5 I believe the suborbitals lost some video transmission in reentry, Shepard's certainly did, briefly...
The second
American astronaut,
Grissom wore a silvery space uniform.
The simulation video looks like he's tracking west to the Gulf. Not true.
Yep saw the same thing
Whatever. Astronaut Chernoff. .Its just a video ...We get it. Get a life and quit being so fucking critical. I forgot, what mission did you fly on? Go back to Taco Bell and get those drive in orders.
15:11 never knew gus grissom was a cod player
Let's play the "Roger" drinking game. One shot of tequila per every "Roger".
Okey-dokey!!
Sure sounds like a guy who would panic, huh?
All those years wrongfully acused.... Who knows if he was even acused for Apollo 1.?
Did they ever determine why the explosive bolts went off early?
it seems that the capsule hit the water on its side and busted the bolts off, they may not have blown at all......gus would have been the first man on the moon if he had not died 2 years before
I think that the capsule was rolling in the sea and water covered the window. Gus thought that the capsule was sinking and bailed out. Only Gus really knew what happened. However, the capsule was a disposable single use spaceship! I cant see why NASA made a big deal about it. The mission was a success and the astronault got home safe. Could have been worse!
Scott Wheeler It was a big deal because it was a test flight. The US hadn't even been to orbit yet. NASA needed the ship to evaluate its performance and improve it. But you're right. No one but Gus really knows what happened.
Shepard's capsule had the old beryllium heat shield that everybody knew was inadequate to reenter from orbital velocity. Grissom's had the new composite heat shield. They would have dearly loved to get a look at it after a suborbital reentry before anybody trusted it for an orbital flight.
@@spacecatboy2962 But also we must keep in mind that the Apollo 1 fire exposed spacecraft flaws that might well have prevented it from EVER reaching the moon successfully..😞😢
AFB in Indiana
10:45
Gus was one of the greatest. He didn’t do anything wrong.
Poor guy lived and died by the hatch
I would have been worried about getting eaten by a shark.
God speed jose
Jag Tittas Min Hemmas Finland Salo Olikkalankatu 2A12 , 24100. Klo 8:20.
GOOD Gais
whats liberty bell 7
***** Liberty Bell 7 was the name of the spacecraft
Fucking Moron! You are a disgrace to Trolls the World over!
You watched the video and are so stupid you ask that question?
Pubg BP
Glaube Mut Liebe .
Always reminded me of Pee Wee Herman.