Astronaut Hall of Fame
9:04 PM Tuesday, September 12, 2006
First: Alan Sheppard sat in that chair as the first American in space. The mercury spacecraft could fit inside the back of an average sized pickup. We were clostrophobic just looking at it. The Liberty Bell 7 (piloted by Gus Grissom) was found just a few years ago and is on displayed at Kennedy. This photo is of the first Mercury flight.
Second: That's the Apollo 8 command module. The first spacecraft to orbit the moon, piloted by Jim Lovell himself (of Apollo 13 fame).
Third: The first Gemini spacecraft (two seaters!)
We were amazed at the confines of these craft. Not much more than the thickness of a tuna can separated them from space.