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To make sure that as little water as possible was created, Kraft ordered the astronauts to power down to 15 amperes from a peak of 44 amperes. On the sixth day, Kraft said that he might have to bring down Gemini 5 on its 107th orbit, one day short of its planned reentry.
Cooper and Conrad took these tribulations in good humor. They listened to Dixieland jazz beamed from Houston—Al Hirt trumpeting Muskrat Ramble, Birth of the Blues, Jada. Houston felt light enough to joke about speculation that Gemini 5 would fall short of its attempt to stay up eight days and have to come down before Sunday. Said Paul Haney, Gemini public affairs chief: "There has been consideration given here to playing Never on Sunday, but it was ruled out as inappropriate." Soon after, Houston cockily played the song.
Grander Goals. Gemini 5 drifted along with one of the two fuel cells shut down to control the water buildup. Asked Cooper: "You think we might make it, huh?" "Looks like it," replied Carnarvon tracking station in Australia. Kraft broke in: "We're sure of it."
On the seventh day, water from the fuel cell no longer seemed a threat, the astronauts managed to bring the spacecraft's tumbling under control—and so it was "go" for the eighth day in space.
The world watched anxiously as Gemini 5 went into its last revolutions. It had been a troubled but triumphant flight. Thanks to it, U.S. astronauts surpassed Soviet cosmonauts on several scores: nine manned space flights to the Russians' eight, a total of 642 man-hours in space to the Russians' 507, 120 revolutions on a single trip to the Russians' 81. Gemini 5 was a crucial stage in the buildup for man's journey beyond the earth orbit. With each mission, the goals became grander. Gemini 6, scheduled as a two-day flight to go up Oct. 25, will attempt to rendezvous and dock with an Agena rocket in orbit. Next year's Gemini 7 aims to go for 14 days —the maximum amount of time required for a lunar round trip and landing. The five Gemini flights after that will provide additional practice in the docking procedures so necessary if U.S. spacemen are to succeed in their bold intention to reach the moon by 1970.
* Space lingo for "grasp."