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Gemini 5
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Crew:
C. Gordon Cooper (2), Commander
Charles Conrad, Jr (1), Pilot
Backup Crew:
Neil A. Armstrong
Elliot M. See, Jr
CapCom:
Virgil I. Grissom (Cape)
James A. McDivitt (Houston)
Edwin E. Aldrin (Houston)
Neil A. Armstrong (Houston) |
Mission Objective:
Evaluate rendezvous Guidance and Navigation system with REP. Demonstrate
8-day capability of spacecraft and crew. Evaluate effects on
weightlessness for 8-day flight. Spacecraft weight: 3605kg.
Secondary objectives included: Demonstrate controlled reentry guidance.
Evaluate fuel cell. Demonstrate all phases of guidance and control system
operation needed for rendezvous. Evaluate capability of both crewmen to
maneuver spacecraft to rendezvous. Checkout rendezvous radar. Execute 17
experiments.
Launch:
August 21, 1965; 8:59:59.518am EST. A launch attempt on August 19 was
postponed due to weather conditions and problems with loading cryogenic
fuel for the fuel cell.
Orbit:
Altitude: 349.8 km
Inclination: 32.61 degrees
Orbits: 120
Duration: 7 Days, 22 hours, 55 min, 14 seconds
Distance: km
Landing:
August 29, 1965. Landing was at 29deg44min North and 69deg 45min West.
Miss distance was 170.3km (92nm). Navy divers from the backup recovery
ship USS DuPont (DD-941) recovered the crew and transfered them via
helicopter to the USS Lake Champlain (crew onboard in 89 min).
Mission Highlights:
During the mission, problems developed with the fuel cell that precluded
rendezvous with the radar evaluation pod (REP). Primary rendezvous G&N
system with REP objective was not achieved. REP rendezvous was not
attempted due to a decision to power down fuel cells.
Secondary objective to demonstrate controlled reentry guidance was not
achieved due to incorrect navigation coordinates transmitted to the
spacecraft computer from the ground. This caused an 89mile overshoot of
the landing zone. Experiment D-2, Nearby Object Photography was not
conducted when REP rendezvous was canceled.
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