WAPAKONETA, Ohio (WLIO) - Many know Neil Armstrong as the first man to set foot on the moon, but few are aware of the mission he completed before the lunar landing.
\Armstrong and David Scott achieved the first-ever docking in space.
The Armstrong Air & Space Museum invited the public to a presentation on the flight of Gemini VIII. During this mission, Armstrong and David Scott achieved the first-ever docking in space, completing vital tasks necessary for the U.S. to reach the moon.
"They had three objectives on this mission that had to be accomplished. They didn't get the third one, but the first two were critical. That's rendezvous between two vehicles and docking, connection between two vehicles. Rendezvous had been achieved once before period, not by the Russians, just by us. Docking had never been achieved and had never been attempted. So those two things were critical steps in getting to the moon. If we could not nail those down, we couldn't go to the moon. So this mission was really critical," said Greg Brown, museum historian with Armstrong Air & Space Museum.
The museum's next event, a "Tour and Talk" on Project Horizon, is scheduled for Thursday, March 20, from 2 to 4 p.m.
