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NASA associate administrator George Muller (center) congratulates Flight Directors John Hodge and Christopher Kraft (back to camera), learning that the astronauts had been recovered in the Western Atlantic to successfully conclude the eight-day mission to space.

“Many of the experiments in the Gemini missions, including photography, will be incorporated into the early Apollo Earth orbital flights, generally in a more sophisticated form. It is the goal of NASA to provide an integrated program of scientific investigation that uses both manned and unmanned spacecraft to complement each other in the important task of gaining knowledge of our universe.”
George Muller (NASA SP-129, foreword)

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Astronauts Gordon Cooper (right) and Pete Conrad, Gemini V crew, walk across the deck of the aircraft carrier USS Lake Champlain following recovery from the ocean.

“Retrofire was made on revolution 120 (one revolution early due to a threatening tropical storm near the landing area) at 7:27:42 a.m. EST on August 29. Splashdown occurred at 7:55:13 in the western Atlantic at 29.73° N, 69.75° W after a total mission time of 190:55:14. Splashdown was 169 km short of the target due to a ground-based computer program error. The crew arrived onboard the aircraft carrier U.S.S. Lake Champlain at 9:26 and the spacecraft was recovered at 11:50” (https://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/nmc/spacecraft/display.action?id=1965-068A).

NASA Deputy Administrator Hugh Dryden summed up the success of Gemini V in a September 11, 1965 report to President Lyndon Johnson.
“The primary objective of the Gemini V mission was to demonstrate man’s ability to function in the space environment for eight days and to qualify the spacecraft systems under these conditions,” he said. “The adaptability of the human body was indicated by the performance of the astronauts. This has assured us of man’s capability to travel to the Moon and return” (https://www.nasa.gov/feature/gemini-v-paving-the-way-for-long-duration-spaceflight).