Gemini 5 Technical Debriefing, Part II, 1965

This is a preliminary Part II transcript of the Gemini 5 (GT-5) flight crew debriefing, prepared by the Spacecraft Operations Branch of NASA's Flight Crew Support Division and dated September 2, 1965. It records astronauts Cooper and Conrad at the Crew Quarters, Cape Kennedy. They discuss how the spacecraft systems worked, including the platform and the OAMS thruster failures. The transcript also covers operational checks, visual sightings, experiments, training, premission planning, and medical aspects. It was originally classified Confidential.

From the source:Release of 2026-06-12 Incident: August 30 - September 2, 1965, Cape Kennedy, Florida. This document is a preliminary transcript (Part II) derived from voice recordings of the Gemini 5 flight crew technical debriefing. NASA conducted this debriefing between August 30, 1965, and September 2, 1965, at the Crew Quarters, Cape Kennedy, Florida. Astronauts L. Gordon Cooper and Charles “Pete” Conrad described observing debris and “snow” and “all sorts of glittering pieces of this, that and the other thing” in the “Visual Sightings” section of the document (pages 157-220).

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rate off, and both suit fans back on the line.
We sat there and we were perspiring vecy lightly,
but the spacecraft was cool; we had cooled it down
prior to reentry as cold as it can go. It was
50 degrees cabin prior to retrofire and 50 degrees
suit loop--
Conrad We had thought when we hit the water if we were
going to have any wait --and it was apparent when
we got down there we were going to have a wait-
the smartest thing to do is to get out of the
suit. It became real apparent that the smartest
thing to do was to stay in the suit and get the
snorkel open, get the both fans running, and the
cabin fan running.
Cooper And this was the answer, because we were really
cool in there. There was no problem. We got our
helmets off, our glo-ves off, and our neck dams
on so we could recirc through the suits good. It
was nice and cool in there. No problem at all.
We could have sat there for hours on end if we
really had to . No problem. Of course, there
again, we want to emphasize t hat we were there
under ideal sea conditions, and I am sure that