Researched
Space Rendezvous and Docking (Gemini)
In December 1965 Gemini 6A met Gemini 7 in orbit, and in March 1966 Gemini 8 docked with a target rocket stage: the skills the Moon landing and every space station depend on.
Open in the interactive tree →NASA's Gemini programme practised the manoeuvres that Apollo needed. On 15 December 1965 Gemini 6A and 7 flew together and held station at distances of 1 to 300 feet for over five hours. On 16 March 1966 Neil Armstrong and David Scott docked Gemini 8 with an uncrewed Agena rocket stage, the first docking in space; a stuck thruster then sent the craft tumbling and forced an early landing. The Moon landing's lunar-orbit rendezvous, the first crew visit to a space station (Soyuz 11 at Salyut 1, 1971) and today's capsule flights to the ISS all use these techniques.
Prerequisites
- Hohmann Transfer Orbits1925Catching a craft in orbit uses orbit-change manoeuvres of this kind.
- Radar1935Gemini's rendezvous radar measured distance and direction to the target craft.
- Programmable Computer (Zuse Z3)1941An onboard computer worked out the engine burns needed to meet the target.
- First Human in Space1961Crews who could fly and steer a capsule were needed to meet another craft.
Unlocks
- Moon Landing1969Apollo's lunar-orbit rendezvous method needed rendezvous and docking.
- Space Stations1971Stations are reached and resupplied by docking.
- Commercial Crew Spaceflight2020Commercial crew capsules dock with the ISS.