After two weather related postponements on the 18th and 19th of July, and after lying in the spacecraft for 3 hours 22 minutes, Gus Grissom finally lifted off aboard Liberty Bell 7 at 7:20 am EST on July 21, 1961.

The flight, though similar to Freedom 7 two months earlier, was not a copy of Al Shepards flight, but the next step in the progressive research into the man in space program. The main difference between Liberty Bell 7 and its predecessor was the addition of a large viewing window and an explosively activated side hatch on the Mercury spacecraft. The large window was added at the request of the Mercury astronauts to provide for a better view than that offered from a small side port window. The explosive side hatch could be activated from within the spacecraft or from the outside by use of a lanyard.

Liftoff proceeded nominally and was called out by capcom Alan Shepard. Boost phase of the mission continued for 2 minutes 23 seconds at which point the escape tower was jettisoned. Ten seconds later the spacecraft separated from the Redstone booster and fired posigrade rockets to increase the separation.

Grissom extended his periscope while the automatic controls initiated spacecraft turnaround. The astronaut assumed manual control 3 minutes 5 seconds into the flight and flew the capsule through roll, pitch and yaw maneuvers. Thirty seconds prior to the spacecraft reaching its peak altitude of 118.3 statute miles, and at a Ground Elapsed Time of 4 minutes 46 seconds, the retro sequence was initiated.

Grissom fired the retros manually at 5 minutes 10 seconds and maintained manual control of the spacecraft through re-entry. The retropack was jettisoned at 6 minutes 7 seconds and, following re-entry through the upper atmosphere, drogue chute deployment occurred at 9 minutes 41 seconds at an altitude of 12,500 feet. At 10,000 feet the main parachute was deployed successfully. Splashdown occured within sight of the recovery ship USS Randolph.

As the recovery helicopters hovered overhead the escape hatch jettisoned prematurely and Liberty Bell 7 began to fill with water. Grissom bailed out immediately and was recovered after being in the water for about four minutes as the Navy helicopters tried to save the spacecraft.

The combination of spacecraft and sea water was too much for the helicopter lift capacity and Liberty Bell 7 was cut loose to sink 15,000 feet to the bottom of the Atlantic.

Subsequent investigations exonerated Gus Grissom from all blame when it was discovered that the hatch blew accidentally.

The Liberty Bell spacecraft was recovered from the floor of the Atlantic in July of 1999, 38 years after the mission, by a private salvage team. It was restored and is currently being toured around the United States prior to being placed on permanent display at the Kansas Cosmosphere.