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Author
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Topic: Gemini 5 mission motto: '8 Days or Bust'
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LM-12
Member Posts: 3324
From: Ontario, Canada
Registered: Oct 2010
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posted 08-31-2018 10:17 AM
  
The Gemini 5 motto "8 Days or Bust" was, apparently, 7 Days or Bust at one point. |
Fra Mauro
Member Posts: 1624
From: Bethpage, N.Y.
Registered: Jul 2002
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posted 08-31-2018 04:34 PM
Which NASA officials hated, since it would make anything less than a full mission seem like a failure. |
YankeeClipper
Member Posts: 622
From: Dublin, Ireland
Registered: Mar 2011
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posted 09-01-2018 03:34 AM
Didn't know that...interesting! |
LM-12
Member Posts: 3324
From: Ontario, Canada
Registered: Oct 2010
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posted 09-01-2018 04:54 AM
When the prime and backup crews were announced on February 8, 1965, the flight was described as a seven day mission. The Gemini 5 press kit described it as an eight day mission.What building number at MSC was that? |
ManInSpace
Member Posts: 134
From: Brooklin, ON Canada
Registered: Feb 2018
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posted 09-01-2018 02:55 PM
Didn't NASA HQ in Washington crack down on the designs of future mission patches because they were so unhappy with this one? |
Robert Pearlman
Editor Posts: 43576
From: Houston, TX
Registered: Nov 1999
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posted 09-01-2018 03:11 PM
This was the first mission to have a patch. James Webb didn't want NASA to be criticized by the press if they didn't make it eight days, so they made Gordon Cooper and Pete Conrad cover up the motto with a piece of fabric. The tagline was revealed post-flight.I don't recall there being other fallout from the patch... |
ManInSpace
Member Posts: 134
From: Brooklin, ON Canada
Registered: Feb 2018
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posted 09-01-2018 03:22 PM
I do recall it was the first, but thought that other crews having admired Cooper's were talking of making their own; only to be shut down. I cannot however, remember where I read this or provide any reference. If I am in error, my apologies. |
David C
Member Posts: 1039
From: Lausanne
Registered: Apr 2012
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posted 09-01-2018 06:01 PM
Strange. I'm thinking either you're in error because every single mission since then has had a patch, or you've only remembered half of a story. |
ManInSpace
Member Posts: 134
From: Brooklin, ON Canada
Registered: Feb 2018
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posted 09-01-2018 06:36 PM
I wasn't specific enough in my comments. I am well aware of the other patches, but I seem to recall that NASA brass made it clear that they would have to be approved; and nothing that could be seen as inappropriate would be approved. Given the history of squadron patches in the military, I am sure the astronauts had their own ideas as to content.I meant "shut down" only in terms of what they were allowed to use as content. |
Robert Pearlman
Editor Posts: 43576
From: Houston, TX
Registered: Nov 1999
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posted 09-01-2018 07:29 PM
Cooper's patch had to be approved by NASA management, which is what led to the "Eight Days or Bust" being an issue, so in that sense nothing really changed as a result.That said, I think you could be remembering the story about how patches came to be a thing. Grissom wanted to name his Gemini spacecraft "The Unsinkable Molly Brown," which NASA management didn't find funny and resulted in the Gemini astronauts being prohibited from naming their capsules. Cooper proposed a patch as an alternative, borrowing a tradition from the military. |
ManInSpace
Member Posts: 134
From: Brooklin, ON Canada
Registered: Feb 2018
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posted 09-01-2018 07:36 PM
Ah...now that strikes a chord and I believe you are correct. Thank you Robert and a Mea Culpa for any confusion I caused. |
LM-12
Member Posts: 3324
From: Ontario, Canada
Registered: Oct 2010
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posted 09-01-2018 08:23 PM
They should have called the chuckwagon Chuck's wagon.
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moorouge
Member Posts: 2458
From: U.K.
Registered: Jul 2009
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posted 09-02-2018 02:09 AM
Except it wasn't a chuck wagon — it was a Conestoga wagon and was chosen deliberately by Cooper to emphasize the pioneering nature of the flight.On edit - the requirement to have mission patches approved led to many unofficial patches designed by crews that were not approved but nevertheless were produced and in some cases flown, for example the "road runner" patch for Apollo 14. |
LM-12
Member Posts: 3324
From: Ontario, Canada
Registered: Oct 2010
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posted 09-02-2018 08:14 AM
It is probably Building 4, the Flight Crew Operations Offices, at MSC.
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