posted 09-17-2014 10:55 AM               

Space Cover #282: Flown Into the Stratosphere Balloon Cover

Twenty one years after the U.S. Explorer II balloon set a world record manned altitude record of 72,395 feet, two US Navy officers were launched into the stratosphere from the deck of the aircraft carrier, USS Antietam, in the Gulf of Mexico. The two men broke the world record by attaining 113,000 feet on 4 May 1961, one day before Alan B. Shepard became the first American in space. These two men wore the Project Mercury, Mark IV spacesuits during their endeavor.

While returning to splashdown they each signed a number of covers that they had taken on their flight.

At 7,000 feet they opened their visors and once they splashed down, they had a cigarette while awaiting the recovery helicopter. When the rescue/recovery helicopter hovered above them, Commander Malcolm Ross grabbed the cable and tried to stand on the hook. His foot slipped, but he held on to the cable, regained his footing and was winched up. When the cable came down again, Lt. Commander Victor Prather grabbed the cable and as he stepped on the hook, his foot also slipped. But he did not have a firm grasp on the cable and fell into the Gulf water. Immediately water poured in through the open visor and before the recovery team could jump in, he sunk under and drowned.

Two months later, Gus Grissom, the second American in space, escaped his Mercury capsule as it sank. But he was recovered safely because the spacesuit manufacture had added a thick rubber collar around the neck of the suit to prevent water from getting into the spacesuit. That addition was because of this tragedy.

If Grissom had drowned, it is very possible that our manned spacecraft program could have been delayed as Congress would have wanted reports and hearings about why it happened. That would have set back our space programs and possibly allowed the Soviets to beat us to the moon. Who knows?