21 August 1965: Gemini V lifted off from Florida's Cape Kennedy Air Force Station, with Command Pilot Gordon Cooper & Pilot Pete Conrad aboard a Gemini spacecraft atop a Titan II G.L.V. rocket, the first capsule powered by fuel cells instead of batteries; the primary mission was to double Gemini IV's then-record four days spent on orbit, simulating the eight days needed to fly to & from the Moon.
29 August 1965: Problems with the new fuel cells threatened to cut short the mission on day one, but Cooper & Conrad pressed on, setting a new endurance record for manned spaceflight, simulating orbital rendezvous, & gathering a wealth of physiological data; Conrad quipped that he wished he'd brought a book; they splashed down in the Atlantic & were recovered by the U.S.S. Lake Champlain.
"The Explorers' Club," № DCCLXVI: The 55th Anniversary of Gemini V, Part I
Space Race Song o' the Day
Space Race Song o' the Day
Space Race Song o' the Day
Space Race Song o' the Day
Space Race Song o' the Day
Space Race Song o' the Day
Space Race Song o' the Day
"The Explorers' Club," № DCCLXVIII: The 55th Anniversary of Gemini V, Part II
Commentary: Gemini V demonstrated two important aspects of Project Apollo, that astronauts could live & work in space long enough to fly to & from the Moon (eight days) & that the new fuel-cell technology worked (though not without bugs), since batteries would not last long enough for Lunar voyages. Gemini V set a new space endurance record, one of the first times the United States had pulled ahead of the Soviet Union in the Space Race.
Gemini IV had established the tradition as astronuats wearing American flags on the space suits; Gemini V established the tradition of the mission patch, though N.A.S.A. management had the "8 Days or Bust" slogan covered up until the eight-day record had been achieved.
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