Dogged by minor mishaps, determined to go the full route, the men of Gemini 5 aimed for eight days in orbit —and made it. Early this week Gordon Cooper and Charles Conrad maneuvered their spacecraft back into the earth's atmosphere over California. Minutes later, at precisely 8:55:58 a.m. (EDT) on Sunday, they splashed down in the Atlantic about 90 miles short of target, soon were picked up by helicopter and lifted to the carrier Lake Champlain. Safe and smiling, they seemed in perfect shape.
Behind them was by far the longest space flight made by anyone. They accomplished their prime mission—proving that man can live and work in space for the amount of time that it would take to journey to the moon and back. During 190½ hours in orbit, they made 120 revolutions around the earth, seeing 120 sunrises and sunsets, and traveled 3,300,000 miles. More important than those records, which would surely be broken by the Gemini 7 flight early next year, were the significant achievements of the voyage. Said Flight Director Chris Kraft: "We have learned a great deal more than we ever expected."
Beyond Expectations. The flight proved more conclusively than anything before it that man is adaptable to the challenges and rigors of space. Though it would be many days before doctors could tell whether "Gordo" Cooper and "Pete" Conrad suffered any really bad effects from the prolonged weightlessness and confinement in their spaceship, they appeared to have nothing worse than stiff joints, heavy beards and nagging itches. Cooper apparently came through better than on his first, 22-orbit flight two years ago; his heartbeat averaged 89 then, about 70 this time.
The astronauts worked hard in space, performing beyond expectations. When equipment unexpectedly conked out, they demonstrated that man has the capacity to become a celestial mechanic. A sighting device went on the blink; Cooper discovered that the trouble was a short circuit, repaired it with a three-inch-long screwdriver. Conrad fixed a pneumatic belt that was wrapped around his thigh in order to stimulate his heartbeat and circulation. Even when necessary components failed beyond repair, the astronauts managed to accomplish many of their assignments. Although a faulty fuel-cell system prevented them from making their planned rendezvous with another object in space, the astronauts maneuvered their craft with such precision that they could have sought out and entered the orbit of another vehicle.
Most of the space gear stood up well, and much of it did better than anticipated, though malfunctions gave the flight a touch-and-go aura all the way. Two rocket thrusters jammed; the fuel-cell system was a constant problem. But the spacemen were pleasantly surprised by the capabilities of other equipment. Gemini's ultra-high-frequency radio transmitter, for example, showed remarkable clarity. Said Chris Kraft: "We're up there to learn systems performance and how to handle problems—and we're getting a good workout."