Gemini 5 (GT-5), launched on August 21, 1965, was the third crewed flight of the Gemini program, piloted by Gordon Cooper and Charles "Pete" Conrad. This mission doubled the U.S. space-flight record set by Gemini 4, lasting eight days—the same duration required for a lunar mission, including landing and returning. This achievement was made possible by new fuel cells that provided sufficient electricity for longer missions, marking a crucial advancement for future Apollo flights, in contrast to the chemical batteries used in earlier crewed spacecraft. Additionally, Gemini 5 became the first American crewed mission to hold the world record for flight duration, surpassing the Soviet Union's Vostok 5 record set in 1963 on August 26, 1965. The mission was cut short, however, due to the impending arrival of Hurricane Betsy.
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| A GT-5 launch cover from "Orbit Covers" postmarked at Cape Canaveral on August 21, 1965, signed by Gordon Cooper and Charles Conrad. |
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| Photo: Gordon Cooper and Charles Conrad in space suits during training for the Gemini 5 flight. |
Cooper and Conrad were scheduled to conduct a practice space rendezvous with a "pod" released from the spacecraft. However, issues with the electrical supply necessitated a switch to a simpler "phantom rendezvous," where the Gemini craft maneuvered to a predetermined location in space instead.
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| Photo: Charles Conrad and Gordon Cooper explaining the concept of the Radar Evaluation Pod (REP). |
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| A GT-5 launch cover from "Celestial", postmarked at Cape Canaveral on August 21, 1965, signed by Charles Conrad and Gordon Cooper. |
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| Photo: Technicians getting the Gemini 5 crew and their spacecraft ready for launch on August 21, 1965. |
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| Photo: US President Johnson watching the launch of the Gemini 5 space flight on August 21, 1965. |
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| Two GT-5 launch covers featuring a Kennedy Space Center NASA official cachet created specifically for the mission—the first cachet used for a manned flight. The top cover carries a Kennedy Space Center machine cancel dated August 21, 1965, while the bottom is hand-cancelled. |
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| Photo: The Gemini 5 crew captured this photo of the eastern coast of Florida and the Bahama Islands, with Cape Kennedy positioned at the tip of the coastline's bulge. |
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| Photo: The fuel cell on the Gemini 5 spacecraft experienced electrical supply issues, leading to a power loss that threatened to shorten the flight.
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| Photo: Leading officials at the Manned Spacecraft Center—Christopher C. Kraft, Dr. Robert H. Gilruth, and George Low—decided to extend the Gemini 5 mission to 33 orbits. |
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| Photo: John Stonesifer (NASA Captain), R. F. Menge (Chief of Staff of Carrier Division 20), and Captain R. Smith map out the recovery area for the conclusion of Gemini 5's eight-day flight. |
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| Photo: John Llewellyn, the retro-fire control officer, indicates a designated recovery area for the Gemini 5 crew's splashdown on August 29, 1965. |
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| Photo: Charles Conrad and Gordon Cooper splash down in the Atlantic Ocean on August 29, 1965, awaiting recovery as frogmen attach a flotation collar to the Gemini capsule. |
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| Photo: Gordon Cooper and Charles Conrad were lifted aboard the recovery helicopter. |
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| A GT-5 recovery cover from the USS Lake Champlain, featuring a black “Morris Beck” rubber-stamped cachet and a machine cancel dated August 29, 1965. It is signed by Gordon Cooper and Charles Conrad.
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| Two GT-5 recovery cover from the USS Lake Champlain, both featuring a black “Morris Beck” rubber-stamped cachet and the less common hand cancel dated August 29, 1965. The top cover is signed by the ship's commanding officer, Captain James Longino, Jr. |
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| Photo: Charles Conrad and Gordon Cooper inspecting the recovered Gemini 5 capsule on the USS Lake Champlain, August 29, 1965. |
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| A GT-5 Crew Cover (Type B) from "Morris Beck" featuring a USS Lake Champlain machine cancel dated August 29, 1965. Only 25 of these printed covers exist without the printed "B" number. |
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| Photo: Gordon Cooper dines aboard the USS Lake Champlain with Bruce Adams from Minneapolis on August 29, 1965. |
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| A GT-5 recovery cover from the USS Lake Champlain, featuring a black “Morris Beck” rubber-stamped cachet and a machine cancel dated August 29, 1965. It includes a letter addressed to Dwight Owen Coons, the Deputy Medical Director at the NASA Manned Spacecraft Center. |
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| A GT-4 recovery cover from "Morris Beck" reused during the Gemini 5 recovery, with a postmark from the USS Lake Champlain on August 29, 1965.
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| A GT-5 recovery cover from "Artopages" postmarked aboard the USS Lake Champlain on August 29, 1965. |
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| Photo: A cake-cutting ceremony for the Gemini 5 crew took place onboard the USS Lake Champlain on August 29, 1965. |
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| An unused Navy Press Card intended for a journalist or an officer aboard the USS Lake Champlain. |
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| Photo: Charles Conrad and Gordon Cooper are seen admiring a cartoon presented to Conrad during a news conference. The cartoon illustrates Conrad's observation of his four sons playing on the roof of their house while he and Cooper orbited the Earth aboard Gemini 5. |
(Reference from
Gemini 5)
