The Liberty Bell 7 was America’s second manned spaceflight, piloted by astronaut Gus Grissom. Everything seemed to be peachy until splashdown. Out of nowhere, the hatch decided to blow off prematurely. Controversy? You bet. Some say it was a design flaw, others say Grissom panicked and blew it himself.
Meanwhile, poor Gus almost drowned in the Atlantic, thanks to his not-so-helpful space suit filling up with water faster than you can say “SOS”.
Lucky for him, he managed to swim out, but the helicopter crew couldn’t lift the now waterlogged and super heavy capsule. The capsule wasn’t having it and decided to sink to the ocean floor.
Fast forward a few decades, and in 1999, they finally fished the Liberty Bell 7 out from its watery grave. Voila, history salvaged. Just another day in the life of space exploration.
