NASA History: Gemini V Launched From Cape Canaveral 53 Years Ago
By NASA // August 21, 2018
FLASHBACK: August 21, 1965
ABOVE VIDEO: Fifty-three years ago today on August 21, 1965, Gemini V, the third crewed Gemini flight, launched from Cape Canaveral carrying commander Gordon Cooper and pilot Pete Conrad. (lunarmodule5 Video)
NASA – Fifty-three years ago today on August 21, 1965, Gemini V, the third crewed Gemini flight, launched from Cape Canaveral carrying commander Gordon Cooper and pilot Pete Conrad.
The 8-day mission broke the Soviet Union’s previous world record, set by the crew of Vostok 5 in 1963, for longest time in space.
The mission’s purpose was to test rendezvous capabilities with the Radar Evaluation Pod (REP) that was ejected from the craft during the second orbit.
Unfortunately, problems developed with the fuel cell and the crew could not rendezvous with the REP.
Back on the ground, fellow astronaut Buzz Aldrin developed a plan where the crew could rendezvous with a “point in space.”
The plan worked and the crew executed the first ever precision maneuver during a spaceflight.
The crew completed its mission on August 29, 1965, and landed safely in the Atlantic Ocean.
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