During the early space missions, astronauts had to prepare for an emergency landing anywhere along their orbital track, which flew mostly over ocean, desert and jungle. This machete was one of the survival items issued to the Gemini astronauts, particularly for jungle survival, as it could be used for chopping wood and undergrowth, or klling animals. It was found with the survival kit of command pilot James McDivitt behind his ejection seat in the Gemini IV spacecraft, while the spacecraft was undergoing inspection in the National Air and Space Museum. Presumably this machete flew with him and Edward White on their four-day mission, June 3-6, 1965, which featured the first American EVA (walk in space) by Ed White.