The heat of Argonia, Kansas during the weekend of LDRS 18 was mind boggling. Even the shade didn't offer much relief from the 110 degree temperatures. But nothing, not even the weather, could pry the members of "Team Redstone" away from their run at history. They came from every corner of the country to assemble the components of their long awaited project. More than 20 dedicated souls poured their blood, sweat and tears into building their assigned components for the scaled down model of the famous Mercury Redstone rocket , "Freedom 7". Astronaut Alan B. Shepard was the pilot of Freedom 7 during it's history making flight.

Now it was Team Redstone's turn to take stake it's claim in the history books. The beautiful rocket stood majestically on the launch pad. Every person that looked upon that gleeming sliver of thundering metal, could feel the electricity of anticipation in the air. This rocket was a shining symbol of the determination of this group to make civilian space exploration a reality.

All seemed perfect. The event drew national media attention and the team was honored to have the daughter of Alan Shepard on site to assist in the launch of this project. But even the seemingly perfect situations of the day weren't enough to ward off the unfortunate turn events for this project. An over-pressurized fuel casing ruptured and put an end to any hopes of team Redstone reaching space on that particular day.

The following photos tell the story:
Click on the GIF image to see the larger JPEG image

Introductions all around....
Team leader Bruce Lee with the daughter of famed astronaut Alan B. Shepard.	Ky michaelson poses here with Quintin Wilson, one of the original "Rocket Boys from the movie "October Sky".	Ky Michaelson and his wife Jodi posewith Ms. Shepard.	Ky & Jodi with their daughter, Miracle Michaelson
How it came together...
Raising the escape tower into position on the capsule.	The team lowers the capsule assembly onto the booster. Ky Michaelson manufactured this component.	Ky, Jodi & Miracle pose with the rocket & crew as the finishing touches are applied to the rocket.	Theentire 'Team Redstone " crew
A bitter end to a sweet idea...
just seconds into the launch...disaster strikes.	John Johnston surveys what's left of the ruptured casing.	The team begins the task of salvaging parts ond components with the hope of someday venturing down this road again.