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).

co~~FID EtiTI-A L 71
teresting thing. The finger tip lights were the
only darn lights we had in the spacecraft that we
could move around, which is ridiculous . We kept
holding a glove up once in a while looking at lights
all night because we
Cooper They sure were ... .
Conra d We had the gloves stowed a.nd I broke my auxiliary
light because it was too ha.rd to hold there. When
I pulled it out, the very first time I pulled it
out I shattered it a.nd Gordo never used the one on
his side because it's just not handy. What you
really need in there is, we've got to quality one
of those little pen lights .
Cooper One of those little pen flash. lights .
Conrad A g.zy- really needs one of those little pen flash
lights up there a.nd I really wish that we had
ta.ken the ones along but we couldn't get them
qualified. They had an open switch in them a.nd we
couldn't get them qualified for 100 per cent oxygen.
Cooper You really need a little light that doesn ' t have
a.n electric cord fastened to it that you ca.n just
s tick in your suit or on a pieoe of velcro where
you can just get to it and use it, you know.