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This is sad. After standing proudly at the entrance to Kennedy Space Center welcoming all those who wanted to learn the real story of space travel, this historic artifact was felled by the winds of Hurricane Francis in 2004. It was removed from the entrance and placed in this storage yard at Kennedy Space Center. It has remained there since, beside a sister Redstone that once stood at LC-6, Cape Canaveral. It takes money and skill to take something in this condition and return it to its original appearance: the skill coming from the capable hands of Guard-Lee. This is not leftover cold-war hardware. This is a piece of history that deserves more than it is receiving. |
Images by: Jim Gerard
Date: July 24, 2007 |
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| UPDATE 6/7/05 According to Guard Lee's Tom Wilkes, who currently has a contract to repair this fallen booster, serial numbers contained within the booster indicate it is MR-6, one of eight built for the Mercury Redstone program. This serial number indicates the booster identity, not the mission. Alan Shepard, mission MR-3, was launched on booster MR-7, and Gus Grissom, mission MR-4, was launched on booster MR-8. Like the Saturn IB that lays in the Rocket garden at the nearby Visitor Complex, this is a case where the booster is actually an historic artifact, rather than a dressed up leftover military missile. When repairations are complete, the booster will very likely be moved to new location somewhere on or around KSC. |
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On September 5, 2004, Hurricane Francis bore down on Florida's Space Coast, only the second time in recorded history this area was struck by the full force of a hurricane (and second of what would be three strikes that summer). One unfortunate result was the destruction of the Mercury-Redstone found at KSC's Gate 3. As the booster toppled the Mercry mock up fell to a hard landing causing the damage seen here. It is not known at this time if this booster will be repaired. |
Location: Gate 3, Kennedy Space Center, FL
Images by: Jim Gerard
Date: September 6, 2004 |
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Old Images
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Location: Gate 3, Kennedy Space Center, FL
Images by: Jim Gerard
Date: July 30, 2002 |
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Last Updated on: Friday, July 27, 2007
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A Field Guide to American Spacecraft
by Jim Gerard
www.americanspacecraft.com
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