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).

81~'it l'FIOEt•l'fl P1 ...
Conrad So I recommend they make the purging switches.
Well, I recommend that they either cane up with a
gimmick that you can insert on the switches when it
is time to purge so that you can flip them on and
time it and then f l ip them off, or ~beyma.ke the
s witches three position. Especially in that 14
day flight . You purge every 6 hours you know, and
that's minimum. If you are running higher loads
you are purging every 4 or every 2. So, that's
quite a chore and it's like house keeping.
Those fuel cells have to be purged and 5 minutes
of s witching is what it takes, holding those spring
loaded switches.
Cooper 2, 2 and almost 1, Yes, 2, 2 and half a minute .
26 seconds. That's really hard on the fingers ,
hiding behind these guards we have, makes it even
more difficult but the guards should be there.
Let's see , monitoring electrical power remaining.
Conrad There was no big argument there.
Cooper No problem there a t a l l, just watching the hydrogen
fa.11.
Conrad They were either there or they weren't.
Cooper Ground information required to complete mission.