[Jonah Hex]

That was the Apollo-Soyuz mission, back in '75. I once met Vance Brand, on of the crew members on that flight.

The capper was, the capsule ended up in a Stable-Two position i.e. capsule inverted and the astronauts hanging from the straps. Combined with the tetroxide exposure, wave action, and capsule motion, the guys were in rough shape and ended up donning O2 masks. Brand actually passed out. Once everybody was on O2, they activated the recovery balloons and righted the capsule.

Apollo missions were never "smooth as silk", but those guys definitely had the right stuff to handle the rough times with nary a batted eye. (Just don't ask Tom Stafford about his colorful language when he accidentally hit an abort switch in the LM during Apollo 10. :-) )

[Brad from Tennessee]

Thanks for the fascinating recollections.