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 submarines, shipwrecks and undersea exploration

Recovery of sunken Mercury capsule

Submarine and Undersea Postings | USA | Wreck

After a successful flight into orbit Gus Grissom and his Liberty Bell 7 Mercury capsule landed in the ocean north of the Bahamas. What happened next is somewhat controversial but the hatch blew off ahead of schedule and the capsule sank in 16,000 feet of water, becoming the only manned American spacecraft to not be recovered. There is some frightening footage out there of the helicopter struggling and failing to lift the capsule as it fills with water. But this article below briefly tells the story of the 1999 recovery expedition that found and recovered the lost Mercury spacecraft.

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