Presenter Information

Sam ConkleFollow

Keywords

neil, armstrong, gemini, 8, dave, scott, apollo

Select the category the research project fits.

Social Sciences/Humanities

Is this submission part of ICaP/PW (Introductory Composition at Purdue/Professional Writing)?

No

Abstract

As the space race heated up in the sixties, NASA was scrambling to get ready to put a man on the moon. Though the Apollo program is the one that landed the U.S. on the moon, the Gemini program ensured we had the necessary training and technology to make it to the moon and back. The Gemini 8 mission represented many firsts in NASA’s long journey to the moon. It was the first attempt at docking, an essential and technologically challenging step that is often overlooked in the grand scale of the moon landing. It was also Neil Armstrong’s first mission in space and in the command pilot seat of a spacecraft, marking the beginning of his path to become the first person on the moon. However, the mission also could have led to a lot of lasts, for both NASA and Armstrong. Once docked with the Agena, Armstrong and Scott found themselves in the first critical-in-space emergency in NASA history, as the craft began it spin out of control. If it wasn’t for Armstrong’s quick actions and level-headed thinking, both him and David Scott would have perished, most likely taking NASA and the Apollo missions with them. In the aftermath of the near disaster, NASA was quick to understate the severity of the failure, but the months leading up to the launch were marred with engineering mistakes and administration oversight. By looking through archival sources from Armstrong himself, it’s shockingly clear to see how close NASA’s race to the moon almost took two astronauts to the grave.

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The Near Tragedy of Gemini 8: How Neil Armstrong’s First Space Mission was almost his Last

As the space race heated up in the sixties, NASA was scrambling to get ready to put a man on the moon. Though the Apollo program is the one that landed the U.S. on the moon, the Gemini program ensured we had the necessary training and technology to make it to the moon and back. The Gemini 8 mission represented many firsts in NASA’s long journey to the moon. It was the first attempt at docking, an essential and technologically challenging step that is often overlooked in the grand scale of the moon landing. It was also Neil Armstrong’s first mission in space and in the command pilot seat of a spacecraft, marking the beginning of his path to become the first person on the moon. However, the mission also could have led to a lot of lasts, for both NASA and Armstrong. Once docked with the Agena, Armstrong and Scott found themselves in the first critical-in-space emergency in NASA history, as the craft began it spin out of control. If it wasn’t for Armstrong’s quick actions and level-headed thinking, both him and David Scott would have perished, most likely taking NASA and the Apollo missions with them. In the aftermath of the near disaster, NASA was quick to understate the severity of the failure, but the months leading up to the launch were marred with engineering mistakes and administration oversight. By looking through archival sources from Armstrong himself, it’s shockingly clear to see how close NASA’s race to the moon almost took two astronauts to the grave.