Kuiper goes indognito.
On September 15, 1962, nine new astronauts checked into the Rice Hotel in downtown Houston. Each them had been individually instructed by Deke Slayton to use the same alias: “Max Peck.”
This was extremely confusing to the hotel’s staff, whose manager was also named Max Peck. It also led to some confusion among the astronauts themselves, at least one of whom thought their room had already been taken by mistake.
These nine astronauts had been hand-picked for Gemini and Apollo to supplement the original Mercury 7. They included Neil Armstrong, Tom Stafford, John Young, Frank Borman, Ed White, Pete Conrad, Elliott See, James McDivitt, and Jim Lovell (Jim just celebrated his 91st birthday!)
Two of the “NASA astronaut group 2” would have their lives tragically cut short in the line of duty, but seven would go on to fly on Apollo 7 and beyond. Four are still with us today here on Earth. ?♥️
Gemini I and II were unmanned flights, so we’ll continue our story next with Gemini III. Can you guess what contraband was smuggled aboard? I’ll give your a hint: it’s edible. Don’t give it away if you already know. ?
Original post: https://www.instagram.com/p/BvqFdB6DoiB/