Discovery Channel Kicks Off Nationwide Tour of Liberty Bell 7 Space Capsule Exhibit At Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex.Entertainment Editors KENNEDY SPACE CENTER Kennedy Space Center (Cape Canaveral) U.S. launch site for manned space missions. [U.S. Hist.: WB, So:562] See : Astronautics , Fla.--(ENTERTAINMENT WIRE)--June 13, 2000 -- Family Friendly, Interactive Exhibit Opens to Public June 17, 2000 -- -- Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex First Stop in 3-Year Tour -- "The Lost Spacecraft: Liberty Bell 7 Recovered," a new interactive 6,000-square-foot traveling exhibit of the 1961 Mercury space capsule recovered in July 1999 during a Discovery Channel expedition, begins its three-year journey across the nation on June 17, 2000 at Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex in Kennedy Space Center, Fla. The second manned space mission for the United States United States, officially United States of America, republic (2005 est. pop. 295,734,000), 3,539,227 sq mi (9,166,598 sq km), North America. The United States is the world's third largest country in population and the fourth largest country in area. , Liberty Bell 7 was flown in 1961 by astronaut and U.S. Air Force Captain Virgil "Gus" Grissom on a mission that lasted 15 minutes and 37 seconds before sinking to the floor of the Atlantic Ocean Atlantic Ocean [Lat.,=of Atlas], second largest ocean (c.31,800,000 sq mi/82,362,000 sq km; c.36,000,000 sq mi/93,240,000 sq km with marginal seas). Physical Geography Extent and Seas , where it lay undetected for nearly four decades. Now, the newly restored capsule will travel with this new Discovery Channel-sponsored exhibit to science centers and museums in 12 cities throughout the United States (see attached exhibit schedule). Created in partnership with BBH BBH Brown Brothers Harriman (investment bank) BBH Bartle, Bogle, Hegarty (advertising agency) BBH Bouncing Busy Hour BBH Blueback Herring (FAO fish species code) , Inc. of San Antonio San Antonio (săn ăntō`nēō, əntōn`), city (1990 pop. 935,933), seat of Bexar co., S central Tex., at the source of the San Antonio River; inc. 1837. , TX, "Liberty Bell 7 Recovered" will take science center and museum visitors on a virtual ride with Grissom 118 miles into space and then 3 miles below the ocean's surface where the capsule sat untouched. "Liberty Bell 7 Recovered" will engage visitors in astronaut training, spacecraft technology and launch sequences circa 1961. It then fast-forwards to 1999 to follow the exciting events surrounding the rescue of the spacecraft and personal triumph by deep-sea search and recovery expert Curt Newport and his expedition team. "Discovery Channel is proud to be a part of this next step with the Liberty Bell 7 space capsule and to present this historical exhibit to families across the country," says Mike Quattrone, executive vice president and general manager, Discovery Channel. "Those who remembered the period when the world stood still to watch a Mercury launch will marvel at the memories the exhibit evokes, while people of all ages will be fascinated with this engaging piece of history." Interactive Elements Of the Exhibit Several interactive stations make this museum experience on early space flight something to remember. -- What's it like to fly into space? A capsule simulator invites visitors to climb in the pilot's seat of this tiny spacecraft and perform a pre-flight task. -- Less than half of the test launches of early rockets were successful. A rocket interactive allows visitors to look through a periscope periscope (pĕr`ĭskōp) [Gr.,=view around], instrument to enable a person to see objects not in his direct line of vision or concealed by some intervening body. Its essential parts are a tube, prisms, lenses, mirrors, and an eyepiece. and select from a series of rocket launch A rocket launch is the first phase of the flight of a rocket. For orbital spaceflights, or for launches into interplanetary space, rockets are launched from a launch pad, which is usually a fixed location on the ground but may also be on a floating platform such as the San Marco videos and discover each rocket's fate. -- Early astronauts were tested to determine their response to powerful G-forces experienced during the mission. Adults and children alike will climb into a real-life centrifuge centrifuge (sĕn`trəfy  j), device using centrifugal force to separate two or more substances of different density, e.g., two liquids or a liquid and a solid. and test themselves against the grit of astronauts in a main attraction in the exhibit. -- Through an interactive joystick control, visitors will maneuver a small helicopter model and attempt to recover a miniature version of the Liberty Bell 7. Parents will be able to experience this exciting treasure hunt with their children. -- The exhibit offers a remarkable re-creation of the recovery ship Ocean Project's deck, where they can peek into the recovery team's daily log as it appeared on the Internet during the expedition. -- Another interactive feature allows visitors to conduct a virtual interview with Newport to discover why he pursued this adventure and what technology was necessary to achieve success. -- The amazing interactive Remote Operated Vehicle element, complete with robot arms and cameras, invites kids and parents to test their underwater piloting skills just like the explorers who found the Liberty Bell 7 on the ocean floor... more than 3 miles below the surface. -- Via computer, visitors can use custom software that was developed to help identify sonar images of unknown objects miles beneath the ocean's surface. This high-tech software creates a video image from the rough sonar data. The visitor may select one of a number of images within a grid and then discover the object's identity. A LESSON IN TIME AND SPACE The story of Liberty Bell 7 and the adventure surrounding its resurrection are part trip down memory lane, part lesson in patriotism, a salute to technological achievement and an affirmation of the strength of the human spirit. "Liberty Bell 7 Recovered" plunges visitors into the Cold War era in which the United States competed with the Soviet Union in a race to the moon and contrasts that environment with the state-of-the-art technology that in 1999 enabled explorers to raise the capsule. Most significantly, the Liberty Bell 7 space capsule itself will be displayed. This symbol of American determination and ingenuity greets the public after 38 years under water. Visitors see the spacecraft as Grissom left it and as Newport and his team found it after nearly four decades on the ocean floor. The exhibit allows visitors to enter into lifelike environments complete with the sights and sounds associated with: -- The era. A family living room circa 1961, just like the ones in which millions of Americans sat riveted to their televisions as astronauts rocketed into space, welcomes visitors as they enter. They experience the sights, sounds and sociopolitical so·ci·o·po·li·ti·cal adj. Involving both social and political factors. sociopolitical Adjective of or involving political and social factors climate of the time via video, vintage publications and period artifacts artifacts see specimen artifacts. . -- The flight of the Liberty Bell 7, featuring actual audio and video accounts of Grissom and the other astronauts of the Mercury Program Noun 1. Mercury program - a program of rocket-powered flights undertaken by US between 1961 and 1963 with the goal of putting a man in orbit around the earth; "under the Mercury program each flight had one astronaut" and NASA NASA: see National Aeronautics and Space Administration. NASA in full National Aeronautics and Space Administration Independent U.S. footage. -- Mission Control as it appeared in 1961. -- A splashdown splash·down n. The landing of a spacecraft or missile in water. splashdown Noun the landing of a spacecraft on water at the end of a flight Verb splash down theater complete with a partial replica of the Sikorsky recovery helicopter, whose window provides a view of the actual attempt to rescue the capsule. -- A replica of the deck of the recovery expedition ship, Ocean Project, where visitors will see the technology that made recovery possible. -- Listening, Looking, Locating and Lifting kiosks that take visitors on a step-by-step tour of the technology that allowed the recovery team to pinpoint the capsule's location and raise it from its 38-year resting place on the ocean floor. -- A tribute to Grissom, the man who many called "the astronaut's astronaut." Discovery Channel is one of the United States' two largest cable television networks, serving 78 million households across the nation with the finest in informative entertainment. Discovery Networks, a division of Discovery Communications, Inc., operates and manages Discovery Channel, TLC TLC total lung capacity; thin-layer chromatography. TLC abbr. 1. thin-layer chromatography 2. , Animal Planet, Travel Channel, Discovery Health Channel, Discovery People, Discovery Kids Channel, Discovery Science Channel, Discovery Home & Leisure Channel, Discovery Civilization Channel
For more information visit www.discovery.com or for more information on BBH, Inc. visit www.bbhinc.net. The Lost Spacecraft: Liberty Bell 7 Recovered Exhibit Schedule The Lost Spacecraft: Liberty Bell 7 Recovered, an interactive, traveling exhibit from Discovery Channel, will be presented at the following venues (dates and venues are subject to change): June 17, 2000 - September 17, 2000 Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex Kennedy Space Center, Fla October 7, 2000 - January 7, 2001 The Children's Museum Indianapolis, IN January 27, 2001 - June 3, 2001 Liberty Science Center Jersey City, NJ June 23, 2001 - September 9, 2001 The St. Louis Science Center The St. Louis Science Center is a science museum with its facilities in St. Louis, Missouri and a member of the Association of Science and Technology Centers. It is among the largest of its type and, like all science centers, is intended to be a place of informal science education St. Louis, MO September 29, 2001 - January 6, 2002 The Tech Museum San Jose, CA January 26, 2002 - March 24, 2002 Boston Museum of Science Boston, MA April 13, 2002 - June 16, 2002 Kirkpatrick Science & Air Museum (Omniplex) Oklahoma City, OK June 29, 2002 - September 15, 2002 California Science Center The California Science Center (sometimes spelled California ScienCenter) is a state agency and museum located in Exposition Park, Los Angeles. Billed as the West Coast's largest hands-on science center, the California ScienCenter is a public-private partnership between the State Los Angeles, CA October 5, 2002 - January 5, 2003 Denver Museum of Natural History Denver, CO February 4, 2003 - May 26, 2003 ScienceCity Kansas City, MO June 14, 2003 - September 7, 2003 Museum of Science & History Ft. Worth, TX TBD TBD abbr. to be determined Smithsonian Institution Washington, DC |
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