The Corned Beef Sandwich That Ignited a Scandal In Congress

Half a century ago on the morning of the launch of Gemini 3, NASA’s first-ever two-man space mission, Pilot John Young brought aboard a corned beef sandwich that ignited a scandal in Congress. Young had tucked it into his pocket as a joke. When he went to take a bite of the sandwich it began to fall apart and crumbs went everywhere. The food NASA had sent along on Gemini 3 used a gelatin coating to prevent such a thing from happening. All of NASA’s Gemini missions were intended to evaluate various details of sending astronauts into space—including the beginnings of NASA’s specially designed space food.

Photo: CollectSpace/Raymond K. Cunningham, Jr.

The corned beef sandwich incident led to a House of Representatives appropriations committee investigation. Representative George Shipley of Illinois said, “My thought is that…to have one of the astronauts slip a sandwich aboard the vehicle, frankly, is just a little bit disgusting.

More:  First We Feast