Never-before-seen photos of Neil Armstrong after near-death Gemini 8 released
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Never-before-seen photos of the late astronaut Neil Armstrong returning to Earth after one of NASA’s closest calls 60 years ago are now available to the public.
Photographs of Armstrong, who died in 2012, and fellow astronaut David Scott after their unplanned landing near Japan following the ill-fated Gemini 8 mission in 1966 were donated to the Armstrong Air and Space Museum in Wapakoneta, Ohio, by photographer Ron McQueeney’s widow.
After the astronauts completed the first successful docking in space, Armstrong and Scott were forced to end the mission early when both spacecraft began to tumble uncontrollably.
They separated from the other spacecraft but continued to roll at one revolution per second until Armstrong decided to engage the thrusters to stop spinning, burning up some of the fuel they would need to complete the mission. Astronauts risked losing consciousness during the return.
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This photo, taken by Ron McQueeney in 1966, shows astronauts Neil Armstrong (second from right) and David Scott (third from right) standing on the deck of the USS Leonard F. Mason at Naha Air Base in Okinawa, Japan. (Ron McQueeney/Ohio History Connection via AP)
The men touched down from Okinawa, Japan, about 10 hours after their launch on March 16, 1966, and were brought to Naha Air Base.
McQueeney, a former military man, was called in to document the astronauts after the splashdown; It was an event attended by small media because it was unexpected.
This 1966 photo taken by Ron McQueeney shows astronauts Neil Armstrong (left) and David Scott walking among a crowd of U.S. soldiers at Naha Air Base in Okinawa, Japan. (Ron McQueeney/Ohio History Connection via AP)
“Sometimes an incredible event can actually be documented by the most ordinary of methods,” Dante Centuori, the museum’s general director, told the Associated Press.
The photos show men on board the US Navy ship that brought them to the base in Japan, waving to US soldiers when they arrived at the base.
This 1966 photo taken by Ron McQueeney shows the Gemini 8 spacecraft being lifted for transport at Naha Air Base in Okinawa, Japan. (Ron McQueeney/Ohio History Connection via AP)
Another photo shows the Gemini 8 spacecraft being lifted after splashdown.
NASA ASTRONAU ANNOUNCED THAT THE PERSON HAD A MEDICAL PROBLEM THAT CAUSED THE CREW TO RETURN TO EARTH EARLY.
“The thing that strikes me most is that they are so happy to be alive,” Robert Poole, a historian at the University of Lancashire, told the AP.
He added that Armstrong’s coolness under pressure was one of the key factors in his selection for the Apollo 11 moon landing three years later.
This 1966 photo taken by Ron McQueeney shows astronaut Neil Armstrong waving to soldiers at Naha Air Base in Okinawa, Japan. (Ron McQueeney/Ohio History Connection via AP)
Their smiles also show their ability to stay calm in a stressful situation, Centuori said.
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More than 50 years after the last moon mission, NASA is preparing to launch Artemis II, which will send four astronauts around the moon next month.
“Seeing people launch into space so often might make you think it’s easy but very difficult,” added Emily Margolis, curator of the National Air and Space Museum. “And it requires a lot of resources and attention.”
