With the passage of time, the details fade, and it can be easy to think that the early days of the space race were routine and ordinary. The truth is, Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo astronauts put thier lives on the line for every space flight - and some training sessions, too. The truth is, astronatus today do the same thing. Neil Armstrong and David Scott, both space rookies, flew the Gemini 8 misison and did something no one had successfully done before - they docked with another object orbiting Earth. 27 minutes later, they nearly died.
Elliot See and Charlie Bassett were tapped to fly Gemini 9, but a few weeks before Gemini 8 flew, they both died when poor visibility and pilot error caused their twin seat T-38 jet to crash on approach in St. Louis, Missiouri. There are a lot of quotes out there by astronatus who recognize the risks they take, while acknowledging that it is impossible to have progress without risk. Gus Grissom, the second American in space said, "If we die, we want people to accept it. We're in a risky business, and we hope that if anything happens to us, it will not depay the program. The conquest of space is worth the risk of life." The prescience of that quote is unmistakable.
Both See and Bassett were laid to rest in Arlington National Cemetery. Bassett in Section 4, Grave 195 and See in Section 4 Grave 208.
The Gemini 8 insignia was co-designed by both Armstrong and Scott. The text at the bottom had the zodiacal symbol for Gemini (
) and the Roman numeral for the number eight. The two stars Castor and Pollux, from the constellation Gemini and also included and are refracting light through a prisim casting a rainbow which represents the whole spectrum of light, symbolic of the whole spectrum of the planned Gemini 8 mission before it was unexpectedly cut about 65 hours short.
) and the Roman numeral for the number eight. The two stars Castor and Pollux, from the constellation Gemini and also included and are refracting light through a prisim casting a rainbow which represents the whole spectrum of light, symbolic of the whole spectrum of the planned Gemini 8 mission before it was unexpectedly cut about 65 hours short. 
Since 1959, NASA has inducted 23 classes of astronauts. Most classes since Group 8 (1978) have designed a group patch and I figured with all our talk of patches the last two espisodes, I should showcase those here
Gorup 8 (1978) - The TFNGs (or Thirty-Five New Guys)
Group 9 (1980) - 19+80
Group 10 (1984) - The Maggots
Group 11 (1985) - No Nickname
Group 12 (1987) - The GAFFers (George Abby Final Fifteen)
The Rejected Insignia for Group 13 - They wanted to use a black cat to play off the unlucky 13 supersticion.
The approved insignia for Group 13 (1990) - The Hairballs
Group 14 (1992) - The Hogs
Group 15 (1995) - Flying Escargot
Group 16 (1996) - The Sardines
Group 17 (1998) - The Penguins
Group 18 (2000) - The Bugs
Group 19 (2004) - The Peacocks
Group 20 (2009) - The Chumps
Group 21 (2013) - The 8 Balls
Group 22 (2017) - The Turtles
(Note: A nickname and pact for 2020's group 23 is still forthcoming)
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