posted 07-21-2021 09:09 AM               

...based on a frame-by-­frame re-examination of the highest-quality transfer of the original recovery footage, kindly provided by archivist Stephen Slater. The digital imaging techniques we have applied to this film reveal details previously unavailable. They confirm the recollections of the person closest to Grissom's spacecraft at the critical moment: U.S. Marine Corps Lieutenant John Reinhard, who was situated at the side door of the prime recovery helicopter. Our enhanced footage has even jogged the memory of another eyewitness, U.S. Marine Corps Lieutenant James Lewis, pilot of the primary helicopter sent to recover Grissom and Liberty Bell 7.

Based on the available evidence, we conclude that electrostatic discharge generated during the ultimately unsuccessful attempt to recover Grissom's spacecraft most likely caused the premature detonation of the explosive hatch.

Through careful enhancement of film footage shot during the rescue, and from certain key details Reinhard recalled from that morning, Saunders and Leopold now think they can reconstruct what really happened. Reinhard remembers seeing an electrical arc just as he touched the cutting tool to Liberty Bell 7's antenna — before the helicopter hooked on to the spacecraft to raise the hatch above water. That same electrical charge, conclude the authors, probably caused the hatch to blow.

And they've produced photographic proof. In enhanced frames from the film, just as the cutting tool touches the spacecraft, a small, dark object is seen jetting away from the capsule. It's very likely — though not absolutely certain — that this is the hatch, as shown in this short clip (Grissom appears in the video's initial poster frame, to show the location of the hatch).

posted 07-22-2021 07:40 AM               

Additionally, the "enhanced" film footage fails to show any details that were not previously known. The smoke pointed out in the footage is a result of the explosive charges detonating, a requirement for the hatch to "blow," and there has never been an argument that the explosive charges did not fire. Film of the smoke from hatch charges firing can be seen here.

For static electricity generated by the rotorcraft to fire the charges, the charges would have to be susceptible to electrostatic discharge.

The capsule would have generated a huge electrostatic charge during launch or reentry. Why did this electrostatic charge not fire the hatch charges or many other explosive charges installed in the spacecraft during the flight?

Part of the helicopter recovery procedure is to cut the capsule whip antenna using shears, which would have created a path to electrostatically bond the helicopter to the capsule. Additionally, connecting the helicopter to the capsule cargo lift cable would complete an electrical discharge path, and dangling the winch cable in the ocean would create an additional discharge path.

posted 08-19-2021 10:53 AM               

The hatch blow on Liberty Bell 7, leading to the loss of the spacecraft and almost drowning astronaut Virgil I. "Gus" Grissom? Did Grissom deliberately or accidentally blow the hatch, or did some other technical or procedural deficiency contribute to the failure at the end of the otherwise flawless mission? After 60 years, new research and compelling evidence will be presented to provide what we believe is the most plausible scenario for what exactly happened on July 21, 1961.

posted 08-19-2021 10:33 PM               

The Mercury spacecraft has electrostatic protection designed into many systems, and has numerous pyrotechnic devices installed throughout design. Theoretically, the explosive charge initiator and the hatch explosive charge would be electrically bonded to the spacecraft structure, which should act as a faraday cage for electrostatic discharge caused by the recover helicopter, and any residual static charge gained during re-entry.

The post flight investigation covered the subject of an accidental activation of the initiator, and procedural changes introduced after the investigation resulted in no other Mercury spacecraft experiencing an uncommanded hatch "explosion" during recovery.