Evening star., 1961-07-21
MERCURY
Grissom Wet, but in Excellent Shope
After Swimming From Capsule
Continued From First Page

Island for 4S hours Of rest. He
stepped down from an orange
and silver plane to be greeted
by James E. Webb, admins
traitor of the National Aero
ashtis and Space AdminiStra-
ton.
gCongrathlations on a won-
defful job" Mr.. Webb said.
.Capt. Grissom thanked him
and shook hands with fellow
Astronahts Walter Schirra and
John H. Glenn, jr.
~ Not Tired of Flying
Noting that Capt. Grissom
RODE in the co-pilot's seat of
the plane that brought him
from the Randolph, Mr.. Webb
remarked:
Il see you are not tired Of
flying"
Not a bit," Capt. Grissom
replied.
It was the first time Mr..
Webb had ever seen a rocket
launched. He said today's feat
was splendid"
Capt. GriSsom's rocket flight
was perfect in every respect:
Capt. GriSsom, riding in a Mer-
eury capsule mounted on a Red
stone missile, rose 118 miles, 8
miles more than Comdr. Alan B.
Shepard, who became the Ma
tion'S first Spaceman last May
5. He attained a top speed of
$3.50 miles an hour, 180 miles
an hour faster than Comdr.
Shepard. His horizontal dis
tance was just mile farther
than the Shepard flight.
View Fascinating"
At one point in the flight
Capt. GriSSom reported, II feel
very good" He called the view
from his capsule window, which
was larger than that in the
Shepard capsule, fascinating"
so fascinating that he fell be-
hind in the tasks he had to per-
form during the flight. He said
he could see the East Coast, but
could not make out landmarks.
After being taken to the Ran
dolph by the helicopter which
lifted him from the water, Capt.
GrisSom Immediately was es-
corted below decks to go
through a debriefing. There
was no firSt-hand explanation,
therefore, of just what hap
pened after he hit the water.
1t was known that after COM
ing down he chose to remain in
the capsule for several addi-
tional minutes in order to COM
plete a final checklist. Then
the capsules hatch blew off
and water began to pour in.
Capt Grissom emerged, swan
about 10 feet and was picked
up by the helicopter. The
weight of the water in the cap
sule thwarted efforts Of hell
copters to retrieve it.
Officials here could not say
whether Capt GrisSom pur-
posely pulled the lever that set
Oft the explosion to remove the
capsules hatch or whether the
explosion was set off accident
ally.
Capt. Grissom was lifted
from the water by a second
helicopter while the one sched-
uled to pick him up tried to
prevent the capsule, dubbed
Liberty Bell" from sinking.
He was in the water less than
3 minutes.
Robert L. Gilruth, director of
the Mercury program, said that
the loss of the capsule would
cause no delay in the Mercury
program to orbit a man at the
end of this year or beginning
OF 1862. I'VE are capsule
rich" he said.
Sd Shot Studied
He added that no decision
has yet been made as to
whether a third Suborbital
shot will be necessary. Col.
Glenn, who lives in Arlington,
is the likely candidate for such
shot.
In spite Of the accident, Mr..
Gilruth said Mercury crews are
making very good progress"
towards routine space flight.
He and other officials pieced
together data they have re-
ceived here about the recovery
accident:
The side hatch on the cap
sule should not have been
opened until Capt. Grissom
heard by radio that his rescue
helicopter had hooked onto the
top of the capsule. However
fhe hatch door, which had ex-
plosive bolts. was blown off be-
fore the helicopter had caught
the capsule.
COpter Heats Up
AS Capt. Grissom swan away
from the sinking space craft,
the initial recovery helicopter
managed to snare it. So mucn
water had entered the capsule
that the helicopter began to
heat up as its pilot fought to t
keep the capsule afloat for t
from three to five minutes. c
Because the first helicopter g
hovered over the capsule. Capt. v
GriSSom had to swim to an {
area where a standby hell /
copter could pick him up. 8
Just three minutes after the
last radio communications 2
heard from Grissom in the cap !
sule, he was aboard the stand {
by helicopter. Six minutes c
later he was aboard the Ran q
dolph which was 8 miles from +
the impact area. c
Rescue 9 Minutes
The entire rescue operation
took 10 minutes. three more