disposal.”
“We can do it and we’re beginning to
understand a lot of the advanced concepts in the Ragnor computer.
Next thing you know, we’ll be landing people on Mars.” remarked
Yeager, who was now second-in-command of Area 51.
In Moscow, Khrushchev was also watching this
young American president declare his intentions on television to
send the United States to the moon. The Soviet leader turned to
face Kerim Kerimov, one of the founders of the
Soviet space program, and said, “This young Kennedy fellow makes
such brash declarations; he can’t possibly think they will get
ahead of us and get to the moon. They’re not even being very
serious about orbital flight, and he wants a moon program? What a
foolish young man. Kerim, how soon do you think we could get a
cosmonaut to the moon?”
“Comrade Secretary, I have not
looked into it. We’re having difficulty fitting some of the alien
technology into some of our systems. Our rocket systems have failed
more often than the Americans and some of our cosmonauts have died
because we’re trying to stay ahead. A moon shot that fails could be
very well the end of our space program.”
“No matter, look into the matter
Kerim and get back to me. I want this done.”
“Yes, Comrade Secretary.”
The next American orbital
attempt was by Gus Grissom two months after Freedom 7 in a Mercury 4
capsule he named Liberty Bell
7 , because the capsule appeared to him be
shaped like a bell. So in tribute to the Liberty Bell in
Philadelphia, he painted a crack on the side of the capsule.
McDonnell, the company that built the Mercury, built into the
capsule a small window that the previous capsules didn’t have and
came up with an explosive release hatch for Grissom to use once he
returned to Earth and made a splash landing in the ocean. As
Grissom was getting into the capsule, a launch pad technician
discovered that the hatch bolts were misaligned, but NASA and
McDonnell engineers decided that the other sixty nine bolts were
sufficient enough to use to make the hatch blow at the appropriate
time. Liberty Bell 7 was launched thirty minutes after the scheduled
launch and made it into sub-orbit safely. The flight was for
fifteen and a half minutes, but in those fifteen minutes of
sub-orbital flight, Grissom was awed by the beauty of Earth through
the little window he was looking through, but, he had work to do,
so he took manual control of the craft. He went through pitch and
yaw movements, and used a new command control system, which he
found easier to use than the manual controls, but was using much
more fuel.
Grissom re-entered the
atmosphere, but felt like he was facing forward, instead of the
backward position he was sitting in. His heart rate reached one
hundred and seventy one beats a minute because of this, which
worried mission control, but Grissom made it safely to the landing
site once he angled the spacecraft the right way. The capsule
splashed into the turbulent Atlantic Ocean, and as Grissom was
preparing to disembark, the hatch suddenly blew off, causing water
to pour into the capsules’ cabin. He hurriedly removed his helmet
and climbed out of the capsule using the instrument panel for
leverage. The helicopters that were used for recovery, tried to
lift Liberty Bell
7 , but the cable pulling it up snapped, and
the capsule plunged back in, sinking beneath the waters of the
Atlantic. Grissom’s spacesuit filled with water, which was dragging
him beneath the ocean waves. He was beginning to panic, but was
comforted at the sight of the rescue team on the helicopter tossing
him the lifeline for him to be pulled into the helicopter. Once
safely on land, some blamed Grissom for blowing the hatch
prematurely and letting the capsule sink, which he vehemently
denied.
What no one knew was that
Area 51 had a hand in the malfunction of the capsule. They had a
small submarine crewed by the CIA nearby, waiting for Liberty Bell 7 to sink beneath the waves, because they were
“We can do it and we’re beginning to
understand a lot of the advanced concepts in the Ragnor computer.
Next thing you know, we’ll be landing people on Mars.” remarked
Yeager, who was now second-in-command of Area 51.
In Moscow, Khrushchev was also watching this
young American president declare his intentions on television to
send the United States to the moon. The Soviet leader turned to
face Kerim Kerimov, one of the founders of the
Soviet space program, and said, “This young Kennedy fellow makes
such brash declarations; he can’t possibly think they will get
ahead of us and get to the moon. They’re not even being very
serious about orbital flight, and he wants a moon program? What a
foolish young man. Kerim, how soon do you think we could get a
cosmonaut to the moon?”
“Comrade Secretary, I have not
looked into it. We’re having difficulty fitting some of the alien
technology into some of our systems. Our rocket systems have failed
more often than the Americans and some of our cosmonauts have died
because we’re trying to stay ahead. A moon shot that fails could be
very well the end of our space program.”
“No matter, look into the matter
Kerim and get back to me. I want this done.”
“Yes, Comrade Secretary.”
The next American orbital
attempt was by Gus Grissom two months after Freedom 7 in a Mercury 4
capsule he named Liberty Bell
7 , because the capsule appeared to him be
shaped like a bell. So in tribute to the Liberty Bell in
Philadelphia, he painted a crack on the side of the capsule.
McDonnell, the company that built the Mercury, built into the
capsule a small window that the previous capsules didn’t have and
came up with an explosive release hatch for Grissom to use once he
returned to Earth and made a splash landing in the ocean. As
Grissom was getting into the capsule, a launch pad technician
discovered that the hatch bolts were misaligned, but NASA and
McDonnell engineers decided that the other sixty nine bolts were
sufficient enough to use to make the hatch blow at the appropriate
time. Liberty Bell 7 was launched thirty minutes after the scheduled
launch and made it into sub-orbit safely. The flight was for
fifteen and a half minutes, but in those fifteen minutes of
sub-orbital flight, Grissom was awed by the beauty of Earth through
the little window he was looking through, but, he had work to do,
so he took manual control of the craft. He went through pitch and
yaw movements, and used a new command control system, which he
found easier to use than the manual controls, but was using much
more fuel.
Grissom re-entered the
atmosphere, but felt like he was facing forward, instead of the
backward position he was sitting in. His heart rate reached one
hundred and seventy one beats a minute because of this, which
worried mission control, but Grissom made it safely to the landing
site once he angled the spacecraft the right way. The capsule
splashed into the turbulent Atlantic Ocean, and as Grissom was
preparing to disembark, the hatch suddenly blew off, causing water
to pour into the capsules’ cabin. He hurriedly removed his helmet
and climbed out of the capsule using the instrument panel for
leverage. The helicopters that were used for recovery, tried to
lift Liberty Bell
7 , but the cable pulling it up snapped, and
the capsule plunged back in, sinking beneath the waters of the
Atlantic. Grissom’s spacesuit filled with water, which was dragging
him beneath the ocean waves. He was beginning to panic, but was
comforted at the sight of the rescue team on the helicopter tossing
him the lifeline for him to be pulled into the helicopter. Once
safely on land, some blamed Grissom for blowing the hatch
prematurely and letting the capsule sink, which he vehemently
denied.
What no one knew was that
Area 51 had a hand in the malfunction of the capsule. They had a
small submarine crewed by the CIA nearby, waiting for Liberty Bell 7 to sink beneath the waves, because they were
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