On this day in space! Aug. 29, 1965: NASA's Gemini 5 breaks spaceflight duration record after 2 astronauts spent '8 days in a garbage can'

On Aug. 29, 1965, two NASA astronauts returned from their record-breaking Gemini 5 mission. Astronauts Gordon Cooper and Pete Conrad spent eight days in Earth orbit, and for the first time, the United States set a world record for the duration of a crewed spaceflight. The Gemini 5 mission launched on Aug. 21, 1965 atop a Titan II rocket from what was then the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station (now the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station) in Florida. While in orbit, the astronauts were supposed to