On 2005-06-27, Henry Spencer wrote:

And *that* is why Gemini mission rules called for immediate descent, to
the first available splashdown area, after any firing of the reentry RCS:
because the reentry-RCS valves couldn't be guaranteed leakproof after
first use, you had to descend while you were still reasonably assured of
a functioning RCS.

Ah ha! I had always wondered about why such a strict rule, when youd think
if they had 95-100% of RCS fuel, surely that would have been within margins
to get home.

Thanks for the education (yet again) Henry


Iain