Sep 24

Space Rocket History an Encore Presentation of Episode #27 – Mercury-Redstone 4 – Liberty Bell 7 with Gus Grissom

Mercury-Redstone 4 was the fourth mission in the Mercury-Redstone series and the second U.S. manned suborbital spaceflight. The mission was essentially a repeat of Alan Shepard’s Freedom 7 flight.   So why was it necessary to launch another sub-orbital mission?  Why not proceed with an orbital flight to match the Soviet Vostok 1?  Among other things the U.S. needed more space experience to corroborate the “Man-in-Space” concept.  Also the Redstone was the only booster NASA had that was approved for manned launches.  The Atlas booster was available but not ready.  Atlas was capable of putting a Mercury Capsule into orbit, but it had been launched three times with unmanned capsules, and it had exploded on 2 of the 3 attempts.

MR-4 Launch

MR-4 Launch

Gus Grissom

Gus Grissom

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Ready to Go

MR-4 Hatch

MR-4 Hatch

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Rescue

Liberty Bell 7

Liberty Bell 7

Jun 24

Space Rocket History an Encore Presentation of Episode #25 – Mercury Redstone 3 – Freedom 7 with Alan Shepard

Over 52 years ago, in the early hours of May 5th, 1961 the US prepared to launch its first man into space. Three weeks earlier, the Soviet Union had sent Yuri Gagarin on an orbital mission. This was a suborbital mission planed to last only 15 minutes. For the moment that did not matter, the entire nation held its breath while Alan Shepard became America’s first man in space.

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Medical Telemetry

Shepard Suiting Up

Shepard Suiting Up

Climbing into Capsule

Climbing In

By Dave from Australia

Personal Problem

Launch

Launch

45 Million Viewers

45 Million Viewers

Control Panel

Control Panel

Console Panel

Console Panel

Navigation Aids

Navigation Aids

Flight Plan

Flight Plan

In Flight

In Flight

On the Carrier

On the Carrier

Huntsville Celebration

Huntsville

Shepard & Kennedy

Shepard & Kennedy

Medal Ceremony

Medal Ceremony

Apr 24

Space Rocket History #60 – Gemini IV with James McDivitt and Edward White – Part 1

The success of Gus Grissom and John Young’s Gemini 3 flight paved the way for long duration space missions. The longest U.S. manned space flight to date was Gordon Cooper’s 34 hour Mercury flight. The Soviets, however, had four long duration flights to their credit, ranging from 70 to 119 hours. It was time for the US to attempt a long duration flight.

James A. McDivitt

James A. McDivitt

Edward White II

Edward White II

Gemini 4 Astronauts

Gemini 4 Crew

Apr 10

Space Rocket History #58 – Corned Beef Controversy – Gemini 3 with Gus Grissom and John Young – Part 2

Grissom – What is it?
Young: Corned beef sandwich.
Grissom: Where did it come from?
Young: I brought it with me. Let’s see how it tastes. Smells, doesn’t it.
Grissom: Yes, its breaking up. I’m going to stick it in my pocket.
Young: Is it? It was a thought, anyway.
Grissom: Yep.
Young: Not a very good one.
Grissom: Pretty good, thought, if it would just hold together.
Young: Want some chicken leg?
Grissom: No you can handle that.

Launch of GLV-3

Launch of GLV-3

Staging

Staging

View from G3

View from G3

Recovery

Recovery

Carrier Recovery

Carrier Recovery

By Dave.

By Dave.