This is an original component from the Liberty Bell 7 spacecraft, used to launch Gus Grissom on American's second manned spaceflight, on July 21, 1961. After splashdown in the Atlantic, the capsule accidentally filled with water and sank to the ocean floor, where it remained until 1999. On July 20, 1999, an expedition sponsered by the Kansas Cosmosphere and the Discovery Channel retrieved the capsule from a depth of 16,043 feet and later restored to its former glory. This fitting was unable to be replaced into the corroded capsule and was instead sold to help pay for the restoration effort.