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).

73
Conrad I'm sure that's all for now. It never bothered
us, of ~ odor. The normal type venting system
worked fine.
Cooper I covered that on the CO partial press . . . .
2
Conrad Did you cover the coolant splashing all over the
nose of the spacecraft just after adapter s ep .
That must have been coolant, it's the only thing
I can think of that wouldn't be frozen up there.
But it was liquid and it actually splashed on
the nose after adapter sep and retrofire. It
ca.me around behind the spacecraft and I saw it
splash and the marks are still on the nose of
the spacecraft where it hit . Water management
I thought was great except it had air in it. It
did have air in it but pressures were good, the
wa ter was cold, it tasted good, but we did have
air in the water and it wasn't the amount that we
had at the factory, but there was air in the water.
You could see it when you filled your darn rehydra
table food bags.
Cooper Yes.
Conrad But, it was good water.
Cooper I covered the humidity sensor, we used it ... com
munications, I don't think you say anything but