This life vest was placed in the Gemini XII capsule for the pilot (right-hand seat), Edwin E. Aldrin, Jr. It is the self-inflating tube-type made of rubberized nylon. It would be strapped to the astronaut's chest. Life vests were part of the emergency survival equipment carried on the spacecraft during the Gemini program. Upon splashdown after returning from space, the astronaut could wear the vest and inflate it for flotation if necessary in the ocean.
NASA transferred this item to the Smithsonian in 1968, together with the Gemini XII spacecraft.
This object is not on display at the National Air and Space Museum. It is either on loan or in storage.