Happy 61st anniversary to Gemini 5

It was 61 years ago today, Aug 21, that Gordon Cooper Jr and Charles “Pete” Conrad Jr blasted-off into space on the Gemini V mission. The main objective of the mission was to test a new type of fuel cell that would later be used on the Apollo Moon missions. As part of that testing they also would set a record as they spent almost 8 full days in space (approximately how long a round trip to the Moon would take) and made 120 orbits of the Earth.

It was 1:58 pm UTC (9:58 am ET) when the crowd gathered at Cape Kennedy, Florida cheered when they heard the roar of the engines. Then the hold claps released as they all watched the rocket lift-off from the launch-pad at control center 19. They looked up as the rocket kept rising while it carried the two astronauts into space.

About 4 and a half hours into the mission it looked as though they might need to return to Earth before carrying out their objective. One of the two fuel cells dropped from 850 psi (pounds per square inch) of pressure to 65 psi. Mr. Cooper turned off the malfunctioning fuel cell and that left the capsule short of the power it would require to complete it mission. With fate of the mission in doubt the ground crew back at NASA worked on a solution to the problem. The only solution seemed to be turning the fuel cell back on and testing it. When the crew of Gemini turned it back on the fuel cell tested out as stable enough to carry out the rest of the mission.

On the 120^th orbit the crew of the Gemini V fired their retros over the Hawaiian Islands. The capsule then descended into the Atlantic Ocean where the craft would be recovered by the aircraft carrier USS Lake Champlain.

Previous to the Gemini V mission Mr. Cooper flew the Mercury 9 mission. The Gemini mission would turn out to be his last mission when he retired after being bumped from the Apollo 13 mission.

Gemini V was the first mission for Mr. Conrad. He later severed as part of the Gemini XI, Apollo 12, and Skylab 2 missions. He retired in 1973 and later awarded the Congressional Space Medal of Honor in 1978 by President Jimmy Carter.

After the mission Gordon Cooper would call the mission “8 days in a garbage can” in reference to the cramped seating area in the capsule.