The fourth panel on the monument. It reads:
On July 21, 1961, Gus piloted the Liberty Bell 7
spacecraft -- the second and final suborbital Mercury test flight. This flight
lasted 15 minutes and 37 seconds, gained an altitude of 118 miles, traveled at
the rate of 5,310 MPH and landed in the Atlantic Ocean 302 miles downrange from
the launch site at Cape Kennedy.
The capsule's hatch blew open prematurely. Sea water began to flood the Liberty Bell
7 spacecraft. Lt. Col. Grissom was rescued by Marine helicopter
seconds before the capsule sank.
He was transported to the USS
Randolph. NASA later declared the flight a complete
success.
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