File:Released to Public "Gus" Grissom (NASA) (2867098558).jpg

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Awaiting Orders

Awaiting orders to proceed to the launch site for Project Mercury's second attempt to launch a man into space, astronaut Virgil I. "Gus" Grissom relaxes in the Personal Equipment Room Hangar "S," Cape Canaveral, Fla. A parabolic Plexiglas mirror on his chest reflects the faces of two fellow Mercury pilots: Walter M. Schirra (left) and M. Scott Carpenter. (See the full resolution image.) The mirror, which was not included in the May 5 Shepard flight, will be used to reflect the instrument panel, bringing it into view of the pilot observer camera. MR-4 has rescheduled for Friday, July 21, 1961.

The Liberty Bell 7 spacecraft, which carried Grissom 118 miles into space, carried a variety of instruments designed to record the pilot's every move during the flight for analysis by scientists after the flight. Unfortunately, the spacecraft sank shortly after Grissom exited the craft and was not recovered at that time. Almost 38 years to the day since it sank, the craft was recovered on July 20, 1999. According to CNN, the capsule was "found at a depth of more than 15,000 feet -- 3,000 feet deeper than the wreck of the Titanic."