Gemini 5 Launch Poster

Gemini 5, carrying astronauts Gordon Cooper and Charles "Pete" Conrad was the third crewed Earth-orbiting spacecraft of the Gemini series. The flight was designed to last eight days and test rendezvous procedures. The major objectives of this mission were to demonstrate a long-duration crewed flight, evaluate the effects of long periods of weightlessness on the crew, and test rendezvous capabilities and manoeuvres using a rendezvous evaluation pod. Secondary objectives included demonstration of all phases of guidance and control systems to support rendezvous and controlled reentry guidance, to evaluate the fuel cell power system and rendezvous radar, to test the capability of either pilot to manoeuvre the spacecraft in orbit to close proximity with another object, and to conduct 17 experiments.