Gemini 8
Les Schneider's most significant achievement occurred on March 16, 1966. He and his 10-man sea rescue crew aboard Naha Rescue One (a DC-4 aircraft) were on emergency alert to rescue the Gemini 8 capsule containing Neil Armstrong and Maj. David Scott in case of an emergency re-entry.
Mechanical problems forced Armstrong to do just that: he had to perform an emergency re-entry into the East China Sea. Captain Schneider was the pilot who saw the descent of the capsule; three pararescuers jumped from his plane and attached a flotation collar.
Although not as well known as the Apollo 13 crash and rescue, the rescue performed by this crew proved to have great importance since it was Mr. Armstrong who would be the one to first step onto the moon.
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