Gemini 5 Mission Patch

Gemini 5 Mission Patch

This Gemini 5 mission patch was designed to commemorate Gordon Cooper and Pete Conrad's spaceflight. The design includes the astronaut's names, the mission name, as well as the slogan '8 Days or Bust' on top of a Conestoga wagon. These wagons were the type used by pioneers in the early eighteenth century, with the crew picking it for their patch design due to the pioneering aspect of their mission - which was aiming to complete an 8-day spaceflight, the longest to date at that time. Hence the '8 Days or Bust' slogan.

The crew of Gemini 5 decided that they wanted a patch for their mission, as they were used to having patches in the military. At the time, NASA administrator Jim Webb was not happy that they had done this, as he was trying to de-personalise NASA missions. After some significant arguing the crew got their way, and the tradition of having a mission patch became part of spaceflight history.

This particular patch was part of a collection of patches acquired by British-born professor of endocrine and metabolic surgery Anthony Goode, during his years working with NASA’s Life Sciences Division.