Never-before-seen footage of Neil Armstrong after the near-death Gemini 8 launch
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Never-before-seen footage of the late astronaut Neil Armstrong returning to Earth following one of NASA’s closest calls 60 years ago is now available to the public.
Photographs of Armstrong, who died in 2012, and fellow astronaut David Scott after their unplanned flare-up near Japan following their ill-fated Gemini 8 mission in 1966 have been donated to the Armstrong Air and Space Museum in Wapakoneta, Ohio, by photographer Ron McQueeney’s widow.
Armstrong and Scott were forced to end the mission early when both spacecraft began to spiral out of control after the astronauts completed their first successful spacewalk.
They separated from the other spacecraft but continued to tumble at one point per second until Armstrong decided to use the thrusters to stop the spin, which burned some of the fuel they would need to complete the mission. The astronauts were at risk of losing consciousness during the spin.
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This 1966 photo by Ron McQueeney 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 landed in Okinawa, Japan, about 10 hours after their launch on March 16, 1966, and were brought to Naha Air Base.
McQueeney, an Army veteran, was called to write the astronauts after the incident, a small event that happened because it was unexpected.
This 1966 photo taken by Ron McQueeney shows astronauts Neil Armstrong (left) and David Scott walking through a crowd of US service members at Naha Air Base in Okinawa, Japan. (Ron McQueeney/Ohio History Connection via AP)
“Sometimes, an incredible event can be documented in ordinary ways,” Dante Centuori, the museum’s executive director, told the Associated Press.
Photos show the men on the deck of the US Navy ship that brought them to the Japanese base and waving to American service members once they arrived at the base.
This 1966 photo by Ron McQueeney shows the Gemini 8 spacecraft being lifted for transport from Naha Air Base in Okinawa, Japan. (Ron McQueeney/Ohio History Connection via AP)
Another image shows the Gemini 8 spacecraft being lifted off following break-in.
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“The obvious thing I have is that they are very happy to be alive,” historian Robert Poole, of the University of Lancashire, told the AP.
He also added that Armstrong’s calmness under pressure is one of the important factors that led him to be chosen to play on the Apollo 11 moon after three years.
This 1966 photo by Ron McQueeney shows astronaut Neil Armstrong, center, raising a hand to help members of Naha Air Base in Okinawa, Japan. (Ron McQueeney/Ohio History Connection via AP)
Centuori said their smiles show their ability to stay calm in stressful situations.
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More than 50 years since the last mission to the moon, NASA is preparing to launch Artemis II, which will send four astronauts to the moon, next month.
“Seeing people go to space regularly would suggest that it’s easy, but it’s very difficult,” said Emily Margolis, curator at the National Air and Space Museum. “And it requires a lot of resources and attention.”
