Description:

Pair of Project Mercury Space Flown Relics with COAs

1) FREEDOM 7. Flown fiber from the parachute of Alan Shepard, .875” in length, adhered to a black and white photograph, 3.25” x 4.875”, on the verso of which is a signed handwritten statement by Florian Noller / Spaceflori, “This is a flown fibre of Alan Shepard’s MR-3 chute from May 5th 61 obtained from Hal French – Nasa Telemetry Technician.”

Mercury-Redstone 3, or Freedom 7, was the first United States human spaceflight, on May 5, 1961, piloted by astronaut Alan Shepard. It was the first crewed flight of Project Mercury. The project had the ultimate objective of putting an astronaut into orbit around the Earth and return him safely.

Shepard named his space capsule Freedom 7, setting a precedent for the remaining six Mercury astronauts naming their spacecraft. The number 7 was included in all the crewed Mercury spacecraft names to honor NASA's first group of seven astronauts.

During the flight, Shepard observed the Earth and tested the capsule's attitude control system, turning the capsule around to face its blunt heat shield forward for atmospheric re-entry. He also tested the retrorockets which would return later missions from orbit, though the capsule did not have enough energy to remain in orbit. After re-entry, the capsule landed by parachute on the North Atlantic Ocean off the Bahamas. Shepard and the capsule were picked up by helicopter and brought to the U.S. Navy aircraft carrier USS Lake Champlain. The mission was a technical success.

2) LIBERTY BELL 7. Fragment of flown sealing tape, 2.063” x 1”. With Signed Statement of Authenticity from Curt Newport, Liberty Bell 7 Expedition Leader, dated June 16, 2005, “I certify that this section of sealing tape is an actual component from the Liberty Bell 7 Mercury spacecraft (McDonnell Capsule No. 11), flown into space and lost at sea on July 21, 1961. This artifact was recovered along with the spacecraft on July 20, 1999 and removed during the restoration process at the Kansas Cosmosphere and Space Center in Hutchinson, Kansas.”

Mercury-Redstone 4 was the second United States human spaceflight, on July 21, 1961. The suborbital Project Mercury flight was launched with a Mercury-Redstone Launch Vehicle, MRLV-8. The spacecraft, Mercury Capsule #11, was nicknamed Liberty Bell 7 by its pilot, astronaut Virgil "Gus" Grissom. The spacecraft has a faux white crack painted on in reference to the original bearer of the name.

The spaceflight lasted 15 minutes 30 seconds and went as expected until just after splashdown, when the hatch cover, designed to release explosively in the event of an emergency, accidentally blew. Grissom was at risk of drowning but was recovered safely via a U.S. Navy helicopter. The spacecraft sank into the Atlantic.

After several unsuccessful attempts, Oceaneering International, Inc. lifted the Liberty Bell 7 off the floor of the Atlantic Ocean and onto the deck of a recovery ship on July 20, 1999. The team was led by Curt Newport. The spacecraft was found after a 14-year effort by Newport at a depth of nearly 16,000 ft east-southeast of Cape Canaveral. Among the items found within were part of the flight gear and several Mercury dimes which were taken to space to be souvenirs of the flight.

After Liberty Bell 7 was secured on the deck of the recovery ship, experts removed and disposed of an explosive device that was supposed to detonate in the event of the spacecraft's sinking, but which failed to explode. The spacecraft was then placed in a container filled with seawater to prevent further corrosion. The Cosmosphere, in Hutchinson, Kansas, disassembled and cleaned the spacecraft, and it was released for a national tour through September 15, 2006.

This item comes with a Certificate from John Reznikoff, a premier authenticator for both major 3rd party authentication services, PSA and JSA (James Spence Authentications), as well as numerous auction houses.

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