Apollo mission: Apollo 12, with the "All Navy Team" of Pete Conrad, Alan Bean and Dick Gordon.
At 5ft 6in in height, Pete was "vertically challenged." When he stepped off the last rung of the LEM ladder
onto the moon's surface, he stated "That may have been a small step for Neil, but it sure was a big one for me!" Made
in America...
Little known fact: Neil Armstrong was a naval aviator during the Korean War. Flying with VF-51,
he flew seventy-eight combat missions from the USS Essex (CV-9) in Grumman F9F Panther jets. During one
mission, his aircraft was seriously damaged and he had to bail out. Buzz Aldrin was an Air Force pilot during the Korean War.
He flew sixty-six combat missions in F-86s, and was credited with shooting down two MIG-15 aircraft. These moonwalkers
had "the right stuff."
Recovery Souvenir: While the Hornet ship's store sold mugs, hats and other trinkets to
commemorate the recovery of Apollo 11, the one item everyone wanted was a piece of the gold "kapton foil" coating
that protected Columbia's occupants from the heat of re-entry into the earth's atmosphere. Comparing photos of the
CM from the moment of splashdown to its delivery at LRL in Houston show a considerable decrease in the "golden shine" from
the spacecraft.
