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Knife, Astronaut Survival

Object Details

Summary
This is a duplicate of a hand-wrought survival knife made by the Randall Knives Co., a maker of speciality knives of all types. One was carried as equipment on Alan Shepard's "Freedom 7" suborbital Mercury mission on May 5, 1961. On this flight, Shepard became the first American, and second human (after Yuri Gagarin), in space. The original survival knife was lost when the hatch was jettisoned after landing in the Atlantic Ocean.
W.D. Randall, Jr., gave this knife to the Smithsonian.
Data Source
National Air and Space Museum
Manufacturer
W. D. Randall Jr.
Credit Line
Gift of Mr. W.D. Randall, Jr.
Materials
Steel, leather, micarta
Dimensions
3-D: 24.1 × 8.3 × 2.5cm (9 1/2 × 3 1/4 × 1 in.)
Type
EQUIPMENT-Survival

Featured In

  • Human Spaceflight
Steel knife with movable, hollow wooden handles and leather tong
This image is in the public domain (free of copyright restrictions). You can copy, modify, and distribute this work without contacting the Smithsonian. For more information, visit the Smithsonian's Open Access page.
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Steel knife with movable, hollow wooden handles and leather tong
Steel knife with hollow wooden handles and leather tong

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