uniformcollector Posted November 19, 2018 Share #1 Posted November 19, 2018 I posted some shots of Apollo 12 Commander and Navy Captain Pete Conrad's wings, but figured I would make a topic on his full uniform. The uniform in its current state appears to be from the 1970s, but was tailored at Princeton. Perhaps, this could have been worn by Conrad following his commision after serving in Princeton's NROTC. The wing is engraved on the reverse to Conrad and all of the insignias is original (with the exception of the Space Medal of Honor which I added for display). For those who aren't aware, Conrad was actually a very small person and upon stepping on the moon during Apollo 12 said, "Whoopee! Man, that may have been a small one for Neil, but that's a long one for me." The uniform barely fit on the mannequin, but luckily I was able to button it completely. Here is a quick biography of Captain Conrad: After graduating Princeton University under a full Navy ROTC scholarship in 1953, Captain Pete Conrad was commisioned a Second Lieutenant in the United States Navy. After serving as both a test pilot and fighter pilot on board the USS Ranger, Conrad was selected by NASA as part of their second group of astronauts known as the New Nine. Conrad then took part in the Gemini 5 and Gemini 11 missions which served as preparation for the Apollo program. In December, 1969, Conrad took command of Apollo 12, the second manned mission to the moon. After becoming the third man to walk on the moon, Conrad joked about his height difference to Neil Armstrong and said, "Whoopee! Man, that may have been a small one for Neil, but that's a long one for me." Conrad then served as commander of Skylab 2, the first crew to board the Skylab Space Station, before retiring in 1973. President Jimmy Carter awarded Conrad the Space Medal of Honor in 1978 for his contributions to the space program. In 1999, Conrad suffered numerous injuries from a motorcycle crash and passed away soon after. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
uniformcollector Posted November 19, 2018 Author Share #2 Posted November 19, 2018 Closeup of the ribbons: Interesting to note that the NASA awards are all below the US military awards in precedence. Officially, even the Space Medal of Honor falls below the lowest military ribbon. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
uniformcollector Posted November 19, 2018 Author Share #3 Posted November 19, 2018 And the reverse of his wing: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bobgee Posted November 19, 2018 Share #4 Posted November 19, 2018 Wonderful! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
67Rally Posted November 19, 2018 Share #5 Posted November 19, 2018 Good grief, yet another wonderful piece of history in your collection! Here are more pieces of Pete Conrad's uniforms, including his dress uniform (behind his G-1l and his medals and wings (not captured in my photos). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LuftStalg1 Posted November 19, 2018 Share #6 Posted November 19, 2018 It boggles my mind to think these wonderful pieces of history sometimes make it into our hands and not a museum. Would the next stop have been the trash can? Great find / save / addition to your little museum! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KurtA Posted November 19, 2018 Share #7 Posted November 19, 2018 Great items. Where did you find an unissued Space Medal of Honor? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
uniformcollector Posted November 19, 2018 Author Share #8 Posted November 19, 2018 Thank for the replies. NASA keeps their Space Medals of Honor in a safe and few are in private hands so I decided to go the route of purchasing a very well made replica. It wasn't too expensive and I figured it would make a nice display. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KurtA Posted November 20, 2018 Share #9 Posted November 20, 2018 Thank for the replies. NASA keeps their Space Medals of Honor in a safe and few are in private hands so I decided to go the route of purchasing a very well made replica. It wasn't too expensive and I figured it would make a nice display. Good idea. It looks great on there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pelseth Posted November 20, 2018 Share #10 Posted November 20, 2018 I had my eyes on that one, too, but it got away from me. I'm glad that it went to a good home - congratulations! That is very interesting info about the precedence of NASA ribbons. Thanks for sharing this with us! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
collectsmedals Posted November 23, 2018 Share #11 Posted November 23, 2018 Very nice post, thank you for sharing it with us. One minor comment, ". . .Captain Pete Conrad was commissioned a Second Lieutenant in the United States Navy." I don't think the Navy has Second Lieutenants, Ensign maybe? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
uniformcollector Posted November 24, 2018 Author Share #12 Posted November 24, 2018 Very nice post, thank you for sharing it with us. One minor comment, ". . .Captain Pete Conrad was commissioned a Second Lieutenant in the United States Navy." I don't think the Navy has Second Lieutenants, Ensign maybe? Thank you for the note! Ensign is correct--didn't even notice that in the bio. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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