Artifact: Liberty Bell 7 flown film lucite display
Artifact Category: film, lucite.
Date of use: July 21, 1961.
Manufacturer: Lucite made by Kansas Cosmosphere and Space Center.
Dimensions: 21.3 x 4.3 x 7.2 cm.
Weight: 561 gr.
Program: Mercury.
Flown Status: flown.

Part Nr.: 791 of 1000.

Description: This filmstrip from Liberty Bell 7 recovered from the Atlantic Ocean on July 20. 1999, from a depth of 16.043 feet, was removed during an extensive restoration conducted on the spacecraft by the Kansas Cosmosphere and Space Center In Hutchinson, Kansas. The pilot observation camera, in which the film was housed, dissolved over time and the film fell to the floor of the capsule where it was encased in mud and corroding debris. The 38-year exposure 10 the elements made the film unsalvageable and it could not be returned to the capsule during the restoration. Issued in commemoration of the 40th anniversary of the Liberty Beil 7 fight, proceeds derived from making these limited edition artifacts available was used to support the Cosmosphere’s exhibit and education programs.

The main objective of the mission was to evaluate the performance of the Mercury capsule and to test the astronaut's ability to manually control the spacecraft. During the 15-minute suborbital flight, Grissom performed a number of manual maneuvers, including pitch and roll changes, and tested the capsule's manual control system.

However, shortly after splashdown in the Atlantic Ocean, the explosive bolts of the capsule's hatch unexpectedly fired, causing the capsule to flood with water and sink to the bottom of the ocean. Grissom was able to escape and was rescued by a recovery helicopter, but the spacecraft was lost.

After the hatch of Liberty Bell 7 opened prematurely, gallons of seawater entered the spacecraft. A helicopter recovery team attempted to empty the water, as seen in this photo. Seconds after this picture was taken, the Marine helicopter dropped the spacecraft because it was too heavy to continue lifting, and the capsule sank to the ocean floor. Credit: NASA.

The cause of the hatch failure has been debated over the years, with some suggesting that Grissom may have accidentally triggered the hatch release switch, while others believe it was a malfunction of the hatch mechanism itself.

A close-up of the Liberty Bell 7 capsule, recovered from the ocean floor, shows the lettering "United States" still clearly visible on its side. Credit: NASA.

Despite the loss of the spacecraft, the Liberty Bell 7 mission was considered a success in terms of the performance of the Mercury capsule and Grissom's ability to manually control it.

Artifact: Skylab flown oxygen supply tank fragment.
Size: 6.5 x 10.8 cm.
Weight: 385 gr.

Description: Flown fragment of a Skylab oxygen supply tank recovered in Western Australia after the space station's fiery reentry in 1979, approximately 1.75” x .5°, encased ina domed 2.5” x 4” x 2.5” block of Lucite with a folded image and information sheet at the bottom.

Skylab was the first United States space station, launched by NASA, occupied for about 24 weeks between May 1973 and February 1974. It was operated by three separate three-astronaut crews: Skylab 2, Skylab 3, and Skylab 4. Major operations included an orbital workshop, a solar observatory, Earth observation, and hundreds of experiments.

Peter Ralphs, Laurie Hotstone and Bill Norton pose by the road in Rawlinna, WA with the Skylab oxygen supply tank, July 13, 1979. Credit: AP radiophoto.

Dimensions: 13 x 3 x 7 cms.

Weight: 341 gr.

Description: The embedded 70 mm film was used on the lunar surface at Tranquility Base. A total of 107 photographs were taken on the film roll while on the lunar surface during Apollo 11. Magazine Q catalogue AS11-39-5737 to AS11-39-5843, black and white images taken from the Lunar Module. The film came from Supervisory Aerospace Technologist Richard W. Underwood.

Lunar meteorite NWA 11303 (History: Material excavated from a site near Tindouf, Algeria, was purchased by Dustin Dickens in March 2017 from a Mauritanian dealer. The coordinates of the site are unknown. Physical characteristics: Many small fragments coated by pale reddish-brown terrestrial weathering products. The fresh interiors of the largest fragments exhibit white to beige clasts in a dark gray, fine-grained matrix. Petrography: (A. Irving and S. Kuehner, UWS) Breccia composed of angular mineral grains of anorthite, olivine, orthopyroxene, exsolved pigeonite, ferroan pigeonite, augite, ilmenite, Ti-chromite and fayalite in a partly vesicular matrix containing minor kamacite and barite. Classification: Lunar (feldspathic regolith breccia).

Sources:

https://www.lpi.usra.edu/resources/apollo/catalog/70mm/magazine/?39

70-mm magazine Q - AS11-39-5737 to 5843

https://www.lpi.usra.edu/meteor/metbull.php?code=66745)

Item: Luna 24 flown fragment.
Size: 7.2 x 10.8 cm.
Weight: 112 gr.
Description: It comes with a certificate of authenticity from Superior Stamp & and Coin.

It also includes a letter written by Cosmonaut Valery Rozhdestvensky and translated into English:

June 30, 1971 on board of Soyuz II.

Captain of the ship Dobrovsskiy G.T., Volkov V.N., and Pazaev V.I..

Accomplished a connection with space station Salyut I, the first space station of long duration taken to the orbit. I had to learn how to operate that station, and that is why after the accident, which happened because the valve for the pressure balance opened and all the vaccum had flowed out and I took part in an investigation of the causes of this accident. I still have burned layiag of the opened hatch from that flight from the escape pod.

During the landing of the escape pad of Soyuz II, a group discovered an opened hatch, and tape of pink color with laying of transparent material.

According to the report of the investigation that was the cause of the depressuring.

In the box, there are also fragments of the "Luna 24" spacecraft, inside layering. Launched on 8/9/76 - 8/22/76, after the scheduled landing on the surface of the Moon on the area of the Crisis Sea, where after the drilling of the Moon surface a sample was taken on the depth of 2 meters and this sample was delivered to earth on a container.

The weight of the sample was 170 grams.

Detail of the fragment (front and back sides)

Item: Flown Insulation Blanket Segment from STS-1 in Lucite.

Size: 3 x 10 cm.

Weight: 242 gr.
Status: Flown.

Description: This STS-1 Insulation Blanket segment flew in space from April 12-14, 1981 on the maiden voyage of the Space Shuttle Columbia, the first Space Shuttle mission. Blankets such as this were used to insulate the Space Shuttle against thermal heating. Signed by Robert Crippen, it comes with a certificate of authenticity from the Astronaut Scholarship Foundation. Number 57 of 100.

Item: STS-93 flown insulation blanket in Lucite
Size: 3 x 10 cm.
Weight: 295 gr.

Status: Flown.

Description: Insulation blanket used on the STS-93 mission of the Space Shuttle Columbia. Mission Duration: July 23-28, 1999. Comes with Certificate of Authenticity from Space Flori.

Item: Apollo Command Module's ablative aft heat shield segment in Lucite
Size: 8.2x7 cm
Weight: 233 gr.

Origin: Astronaut Scholarship Foundation.

Description: Part of the US Apollo-Soyuz Test Project, July 15-24, 1975. Certificate of Authenticity, certified by Ken Havekotte and signed by Apollo-Soyuz Test Project Command Module Pilot Vance Brand. Edition 178 of 200. Box size: 9.5x8.5 cm.

Item: BFGoodrich Space Shuttle tire segment in Lucite
Size: 8.2 x 7 cm
Weight: 245 gr.
Origin: Astronaut Scholarship Foundation

Status: Flown.

Description: Flown on STS-27 and STS-28 aboard Orbiters Atlantis and Columbia, from December 2-6, 1988 and August 8-13, 1989, as one of the two 32" nose gear tires that supported the vehicle's landing. COA signed by Robert "Hoot" Gibson. Edition 178 of 200. Box size: 9.5x8.5 cm.