When astronauts embark onboard their vessel to accomplish another space mission, all of their equipment is generally at the cutting edge of technology. But how could one really imagine that NASA technicians would place such importance from the very start in an item of personal equipment that was not of an electronic nature, a simple knife!
Man has always headed
off to conquer other territories, first of all by necessity, then by a desire
for discovery, freedom and challenge. The first migrations were actually a
question of survival. It was necessary to flee a region or climate that had
become hostile and by the same token it was essential to follow the migrations
of animals in order to feed oneself. But development of settled civilization
has never shaken man’s passion for discovering new territories, across land and
sea, from the highest mountains to the deepest oceans. Then came the skies, the
planets, the Universe and infinity.
Mankind’s genes
contain this thirst for conquest and discovery, but none of these adventures
were ever launched without the best material suitable for the journey to be undertaken.
From Cro-Magnon man to Neil Armstrong, man’s faithful traveling companion has
been a knife. Carried everywhere this little object is undoubtedly useful in as
variety of situations, on land or at sea, but one might well wonder what
usefulness a knife might have in the high-tech environment of space-exploration
and travel.
In fact there are a
number of little jobs on board a space vessel that can be admirably undertaken
with a multi-blade knife, including making emergency repairs that will ensure
the success of the mission, as numerous official accounts have proven.
The “Swiss Army Master
Craftsman” was used by Payton on board the space shuttle Discovery to undertake
work on navigational equipment, leading Victorinox to produce as “Astronaut”
model intended exclusively for members of NASA, of which the nearest equivalent
commercially available is the “Ranger” reference 1.3763. This immediately led
to the other Swiss firm, Wenger, developing a specific model, and these two
brands became official NASA suppliers. But although the mission consists
essentially of going into space, the return to earth should certainly not be
forgotten. The re-entry trajectory can undergo last-minute alterations that
could result in the vessel landing not a Cape Canaveral, but perhaps in the
middle of the African bush or Amazon rain forest.
In such a case, a
‘survival” type knife is essential. Moreover crewmembers regularly undergo
training in those inhospitable environments, enabling them to familiarize
themselves with the equipment made at their disposal. Different types of knife
have been tested under true conditions, particularly in the jungle of Panama. Bo
Randall developed the first model after being contacted by Major Gordon Cooper,
who was aware of the fine models produced by the Randall workshop for numerous
elite units for various conflicts.
The “Astro” was based
on the 15 or “Airman” model, and was officially adopted in October 1960. This
knife accompanied Gordon Cooper, Alan Shepherd and Virgil Grissom in the course
of the first American manned space missions. There was also a machete model
produced by the Case Company, which was taken into space for the first time in
1965, on board the Molly Brown.
This M-1 Survival
Knife has been carried on every manned Gemini and Apollo space flight since the
"Molly Brown" with astronauts Grissom and Young in 1965. One
accompanied Neil Armstrong to the moon. Armstrong is pictured with one of these
knives on the Case company historical timeline.
Not many knives are
noteworthy enough to be featured individually on the Case historical timeline.
One of these knives is in the Smithsonian Institute Museum.
The M-1 model 1966
knife is a survival knife and actually resembles a machete. It is 17" long
overall and has an 11 3/4" blade. It features white polypropolene
handles (the lightest plastic that gives off no fumes) and saw teeth along
the back of the blade. The original knife came housed in a special wooden
display case with a space capsule in the background. Case made 2,494 of the
knives for sale to the public at $75.00 each back in 1966. This knife was
discontinued January 1, 1972.
In 1983 Case produced
a special "2nd run" of 1000 knives commemorating NASA's 25th
anniversary. The anniversary knife is identical to the original M-1 except that
the blade has been etched with a special color logo.
Virgil
"Gus" Grissom was the first NASA astronaut to go into space twice. He
was eventually killed in a training accident in 1967. But, during another
training in 1961, his Mercury Project "Liberty Bell 7" splashed down
in the ocean and sunk. It was recovered in 1999. After almost 40 years on the
ocean bottom (around 15,000 feet deep), his Model 17 was pulled out of the
Liberty Bell capsule. It is now on display at Spring Mill State Park in
Mitchell, Indiana. The question came up, is the original knife, or a modern
replacement?
Alan Shepard
on May 5,1961 and Gus Grissom's on July 21,1961, the Randall Astros were stowed
in the hatch of the space capsule. Both men carried NASA knives, verses their
personal ones.
Beginning
with John Glenn's orbital flight (Feb. 20, 1962) and from that point thereafter
the knives were housed in a special sheathed compartment on Mercury's survival
kit.
Scott
Carpenter's "3" orbit flight also resulted in his knife being lost and
it "was" his personal knife, that flight was on May 24,1962. It is
not clear from his letter and request for a replacement knife to Bo Randall if
the knife was lost at splashdown or sometime afterward. The knife was lost by
the time the capsule was returned to the mainland.
David G,
Concannon knows several astronauts, including a Mercury astronaut, and had a
long talk with this gentleman about Randall knives and the relationship between
the Mercury astronauts and RMK. At the time of this discussion, he had lost
touch with RMK but he eventually back in touch with Gary Randall.
David was not
part of the 1999 expedition that recovered the Liberty Bell 7, but he was on
the 2001 follow up expedition to the same area with Curt Newport, the leader of
that expedition. They discovered the world's deepest wooden shipwreck, a slave
ship lost in 1810. David made a deep submersible dive to this wreck and
recovered several objects, including a man's boot and other leather objects,
which were remarkably well preserved.
As Newport
described in his book, ownership of the spacecraft (and any contents purchased
or provided by NASA) remained with the U.S. Government, specifically NASA, and
the Smithsonian had the right of first refusal to acquire any items recovered.
However, NASA transferred title to the capsule and its contents to the
Discovery Channel Network before the recovery, the Smithsonian signed off on
this transfer, and Discovery donated the capsule to the Kansas Cosmosphere,
where restoration of the items recovered subsequently took place and the
artifacts were displayed before going on tour to various museums around the
country.
Given the
history of the Liberty Bell 7 artifacts after their recovery and the close
personal relationship the Mercury astronauts enjoyed with the Randall family,
my best guess is that the knife on display in Indiana is not the knife flown on
Liberty Bell 7, but is another personal knife that Grissom obtained from RMK.
If it is the Liberty Bell 7 knife, the sheath was provided with the knife and
was not flown. However, I doubt that this is the Liberty Bell 7 knife.
After taking
a closer look at the photo in the original post, it is clear that this is not
the knife that flew on Liberty Bell 7. Although the Liberty Bell 7 knife was
remarkably well preserved after spending 37 years at the bottom of the ocean,
16,000 feet deep, it was still in pretty rough shape when it was recovered. It
required a lot of restoration, and it had a lot of pitting all over. The knife
in Indiana shows no signs of either the pitting or having been restored.
As an aside,
the Grissom family was NOT happy with the recovery of Liberty Bell 7. They did
not want the capsule's recovery to rekindle the old argument about whether
Grissom panicked and fired the hatch prematurely, and consequently damage his
memory and reputation as an astronaut lost in the service of his country.
Personally, I don't believe this has happened. If anything, the capsule's
recovery rekindled the public's memory of these heroic astronauts and the
sacrifices they made for their country.
David G. Concannon
had the pleasure of visiting RMK for the first time while on a business trip to
Orlando. While at the shop, he spoke about his expedition to the spot where Gus
Grissom's Liberty Bell 7 space capsule splashed down, their discovery of a 200-year-old
shipwreck nearby, his dive to 16,000+ feet to explore the wreck, and the
condition of the items recovered.
The items that
were found on this wreck, which was within six miles of Liberty Bell 7 on the
bottom, were remarkably well preserved. However, the salt water can act like
battery acid on carbon steel at this depth. If you look closely at the photo of
the recovered knife, you can see where this happened. This scarring is not
present on the knife in the Indiana museum.
Who will be
the manufacture of the knife that makes it to Mars?
