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T O P I C R E V I E WRISPACEDoes anyone have any information on the 6 Mercury Flight manifests? I am curious as to what the astronauts carried with them on their flights. For example, I know that on Gus Grissom's Liberty Bell 7, he carried 7 Mercury Head Nickels among other items, which were discovered when the capsule was raised in 1999. Robert PearlmanI am not aware that any such manifest exists for Mercury, nor for Gemini (other than PPK lists, which were private to the astronaut) or Apollo prior to Apollo 17. In regards to the Liberty Bell 7 dimes to which you write, they were on-board without the knowledge of Grissom. Though he carried his own dimes, the dimes found upon raising the capsule (52 of them) were part of a roll of the coins stowed by the engineers behind a panel. Similarly, silver notes were flown on some of the other missions, without involving the astronaut pilot (until after the flight, when the astronaut was asked to sign the note or the certificate on which it was placed). Russ Still's Relics of the Space Race has a good chapter about the quantity and type of currency flown on the Mercury and Gemini flights.RISPACEThanks for the info. Yes, they were dimes not nickels. Did not know there were that many of them. I will check out the Relics book. FFrenchSchirra's Gemini PPK was made public by him - here it is. Lou ChinalGus Grissom carried in the left leg of his suit: two rolls of fifty dimes each, three one-dollar bills, some small models of the capsule and two sets of pilot's wings. (We Seven pp296-7) Shepard wore his Annapolis ring. A few of the technicians had placed one dollar bills behind Glenns couch in Friendship 7. Scott Carpenter had his Breitling Navitimer on his lift wrist.(24 hour version) Wally & Gordo both wore an Omega Speedmaster. Cooper also carried his father's leather belt. I hope this helps.RISPACEAmazing stuff. I wonder where these items are now?Robert PearlmanIn addition to the items identified by Lou, there were also a couple of gag items placed on-board by their fellow astronauts.Shepard hid a small felt mouse inside Glenn's Friendship 7. Cooper snuck a pack of Tareyton cigarettes aboard Schirra's Sigma 7.poofacioGordon Cooper wore his father's Masonic ring on his Mercury flight.Lou ChinalFolling up on this thread a little more. I read somewhere (I think it was an old National Geographic) that tucked somewhere inside Freedom 7 was the Bible that President Eisenhower was sworn in on. Glenn still wears his wedding ring. I think Schirra also carried his Annapolis ring. Scott Carpenter still wears his Breitling Navitimer (he showed it to me). Gordon Cooper had a Bulova Accutron on his right wrist (in addition to the Omega). He said it kept perfect time. The Tareyton cigarettes that were in Sigma 7 were sold a short time ago (Wally drank the whiskey). A story Sam Beddingfield tells of drawing a line on the inside of Friendship 7's hatch so the Velcro could be glued in place. I had a chance to interview Robert Gilruth back in the 1980's. He told me many stories. He ended by saying he thought "Scott Carpenter was a very brave man".RISPACEThank you all for the information. I am continuing my search and will post here anything I find.
For example, I know that on Gus Grissom's Liberty Bell 7, he carried 7 Mercury Head Nickels among other items, which were discovered when the capsule was raised in 1999.
In regards to the Liberty Bell 7 dimes to which you write, they were on-board without the knowledge of Grissom. Though he carried his own dimes, the dimes found upon raising the capsule (52 of them) were part of a roll of the coins stowed by the engineers behind a panel.
Similarly, silver notes were flown on some of the other missions, without involving the astronaut pilot (until after the flight, when the astronaut was asked to sign the note or the certificate on which it was placed).
Russ Still's Relics of the Space Race has a good chapter about the quantity and type of currency flown on the Mercury and Gemini flights.
Yes, they were dimes not nickels. Did not know there were that many of them. I will check out the Relics book.
Shepard hid a small felt mouse inside Glenn's Friendship 7. Cooper snuck a pack of Tareyton cigarettes aboard Schirra's Sigma 7.
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