50 Years Ago, NASA Astronauts Smuggled a Corned Beef Sandwich Into Space

On March 23, 1965, astronaut John Young reached into his pocket and offered his crewmate Gus Grissom a corned beef sandwich. It was in the middle of the Gemini 3 mission, and let's be clear, they were in space. It was a silly little prank but one that, man, really pissed off Congress.

  Gemini 3 was NASA's first two-man space mission, and among its many objectives was to test newly invented space food. For example, writes Robert Z. Pearlman in Space.com, the test foods were coated in gelatin to prevent crumbling. The smuggled corned beef sandwich, of course, had no such special coating. Fellow astronaut Wally Schirra had bought the sandwich from Wolfie's Restaurant and Sandwich Shop two days ago and passed it off to Young before the launch. Food doesn't taste so good in space, and it's hard to believe a two-day old corned beef sandwich would be delicious. In any case, Grissom had to put it away after a bite, when crumbs started floating everywhere. Oops, microgravity. continue