This drogue parachute slowed down the Gemini VIII spacecraft before the main parachute landed it in the ocean. Gemini VIII was launched on March 16, 1966, carrying astronauts Neil Armstrong and David Scott. They rendezvoused and docked with an unmanned Agena vehicle launched earlier the same day, the first space docking in history. Shortly after docking, one of the Gemini's attitude control thrusters malfunctioned. The crew undocked from the Agena, but the spacecraft began to roll wildly, eventually reaching one revolution per second. Armstrong and Scott used the Re-entry Control System to stop the roll; mission rules then forced them to make an emergency landing in the Pacific less than twelve hours into a three-day mission. A U.S. Navy destroyer recovered the crew and spacecraft and this parachute.
NASA transferred the parachute to the Smithsonian in 1970.
This object is not on display at the National Air and Space Museum. It is either on loan or in storage.
United States of America
EQUIPMENT-Parachutes
Northrop Ventura
Approximate: 7.62 x 203.2 x 203.2cm (3in. x 6ft 8in. x 6ft 8in.)
Storage (Rehoused in PSC with 3 other parachutes): 75.3kg, 115.6 × 123.2 × 68.6cm (166lb., 45 1/2 in. × 48 1/2 in. × 27 in.)
Nylon, Synthetic Fabric, Adhesive, Steel, Paper, Aluminum, Paint, Rubber
A19731157000
Transferred from the NASA Manned Spacecraft Center
National Air and Space Museum
Usage conditions apply
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