Ross Simpson

        
       Ed Donahue

Gemini 5 astronauts Charles Conrad Jr. (left), pilot, and L. Gordon Cooper
Jr., command pilot

Gemini 5, carrying astronauts Gordon Cooper and Charles "Pete" Conrad was
the third crewed Earth-orbiting spacecraft of the Gemini series. The mission
was launched on August 21, 1965 and was designed to last eight days. Its
mission included demonstrating a long-duration crewed flight. evaluate the
effects of long periods of weightlessness, test rendezvous capabilities and
maneuvers along with conducting other experiments.

Gordo Cooper is hoisted to the recovery chopper after the Gemini 5 splashdown in the Atlantic Ocean

 
One hundred nine days after launch, Mariner 2 flies by Venus

Mariner 2 was the first robotic space probe in the NASA program to reach the
vicinity of the planet Venus in December of the same year..

President John F. Kennedy (right) receives a Mariner 2 model from NASA
representatives in 1961

 
                   Sandy Kozel
                     

Sir Thomas Sean Connery is 83 today