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From Sea to Shining Sea:
A Film Treatment by Paul Gasek and Gene Carl Feldman

Historical: entry into New York Harbor; dockside at South Street Seaport.

In the days following mission’s end, the crew is reunited with their families at Grumman Headquarters, and then flown to a press conference in Washington, D.C. at the National Press Club. The Franklin, meanwhile, is towed to New York Harbor, where a fireboat arranged by Grumman Public Affairs spraying giant plumes of welcome. The crew is back aboard as it ties up at the South Street Seaport for public display.

Graphics: representation of both mission tracks.

By Labor Day 1969, two missions to two frontiers are over. The Moon and the Gulf Stream are ours. Science and international politics have been served, and everyone has survived. One crew would go down in history, the other in obscurity.

NASA publishes a five volume report on the Franklin’s mission, based on Chet May’s observations, titled "Using the Ben Franklin Submersible as a Space Station Analogue." The Ben Franklin Gulf Stream dive has provided useful information which will be used to plan subsequent space habitats like Skylab, the Shuttle, and now the International Space Station (ISS).


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