“The 4-Inch Flight”: The Mercury-Redstone 1, a U.S. Navy launch vehicle, lifts off the ground by just four inches before shutting down, miraculously remaining upright; the accidental shutdown then causes the onboard logic to eject the space capsule, which lands near the politicians’ stands; the rocket, still full of fuel, will then pose a headache for engineers who will have to find a way to safely disarm it.
