A corned beef sandwich is very much a part of America's space history:
During the flight of Gemini 3 (Molly Brown), astronaut John Young smuggled a corned beef sandwich bought the day before the mission by fellow astronaut Wally Schirra at Wolfie's Deli in Cocoa Beach. One of the experiments aboard Gemini 3 was to test different kinds of space foods, which Young was supposed to eat, while commander Virgil (Gus) Grissom did not have any. (The mission lasted less than five hours, so it was no big deal.)
Young reaches into one of his space suit pockets and takes out said corned beef sandwich, offering it to Grissom: "Care to take a bite, skipper?" Grissom took one bite of the sandwich but had to stop when he found crumbs from the sandwich floating in the cabin; he was afraid the crumbs could get into the delicate electronics of the spacecraft and become a potential problem.
When NASA got wind of the stowaway sandwich, the shit hit the fan. Strict controls were later placed on astronaut personal preference kits.
And whatever happened to the sandwich? Reportedly, the sandwich was encased in a Lucite cube and became a memento in John Young's office.
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ASF
Causa latet vis est notissima - the cause is hidden, the results are well known.
Alpha Alpha (University of Oklahoma) Chapter, #814, 1984
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