The Complete Book of Spaceflight: From Apollo 1 to Zero Gravity

did not dock, with the Gemini 8 target. This was done
solely through visual location, because the Gemini 8
GATV no longer had power to run its radar-locating
devices. Two days into the mission, Collins went on a
second spacewalk, this time tethered to the spacecraft
by a life-support umbilical. Using his Personal Propulsion
Unit, he jetted himself toward the Gemini 8
GATV, just three meters away, and removed two experiment
packages, including a micrometeorite impact
detector. While retrieving these packages, he accidentally
set the GATV gyrating slightly, causing problems
for Young as he wrestled to keep the two spacecraft
close together. Using the Gemini 10 thrusters for this
purpose caused the fuel to run low, and the spacewalk
was cut short. During his EVA, Collins also let go of
his camera, which drifted off into space to become
another unplanned Earth satellite.
Gemini 11
Crew
Command pilot: Charles Conrad Jr.
Pilot: Richard Gordon
Highlights: docking, EVA, tether
A mission during which rendezvous and docking was
achieved with a previously launched GATV in less
than one orbit—a key goal because this procedure
might become necessary during the upcoming Apollo
program. Other highlights included two spacewalks
by Gordon, the setting of a new manned spaceflight
altitude record of 1,372 km, and the first fully automated
reentry. One day into the mission, Gordon
went on his first spacewalk, remaining tied to Gemini
11 by an umbilical while trying to attach a 15-m rope
tether from the GATV to a docking bar on Gemini 11.
Although the spacewalk had been scheduled to last
105 minutes, Gordon became exhausted while struggling
to fix the tether, his helmet fogged up, and consequently
he went back inside after just 21 minutes.
About 40 hours into the mission, the GATV multiplestart
engine thrusters were fired to lift the orbit of the
mated spacecraft to an apogee (peak height) of 1,372
km for two orbits, setting a manned altitude record
that was not broken until Apollo 8 headed for the
Moon. The GATV thrusters were then fired to return
the mated spacecraft to their normal orbital altitude.
Shortly afterward, the hatch was opened for Gordon
to begin a standup spacewalk, during which he took
photos and then managed to fall asleep! After the
hatch was closed, Gemini 11 undocked from the
GATV and maneuvered to allow it and the tethered
GATV to slowly rotate around one another. Although
movement of the tethered spacecraft was erratic at
first, the motion stabilized after about 20 minutes.
Then the rotation rate was increased, and again the
motion stabilized. It was a challenge for the astronauts
to keep the rope tether tight between the spacecraft—
it remained stiff but moved somewhat like a jump
rope as the spacecraft executed their pas de deux. This
motion between the spacecraft caused artificial gravity
to be created in space for the first time—even though
it was only 0.0015 that on Earth! Gemini 11’s return
to Earth marked the first fully automatic splashdown
of the American space program. After initial retrorocket
firing, computers carried out all of the adjustments
needed to bring the capsule down about 5 km
from its target point.
Gemini 12
Crew
Command pilot: James Lovell Jr.
Pilot: Edwin Aldrin Jr.
Highlights: docking, 3 EVAs, tether
The final Gemini mission, during which the crew
made the first observation of a solar eclipse from
space. After Gemini 12 had docked with its GATV,
Aldrin carried out the first of three spacewalks, attaching
a 30-m rope from the GATV to a docking bar on
the capsule—a tether twice as long as that used on
Gemini 11. To combat some of the problems of
fatigue experienced on previous spacewalks, a number
of astronaut restraints had been fitted to Gemini 12’s
exterior. These helped Aldrin work at a more methodical,
relaxed pace. His spacewalk was also the first to
have been rehearsed underwater in NASA’s Neutral
Buoyancy Tank. Gemini 12 splashed down less than
5 km from its primary recovery target area.
Gemini Agena Target Vehicle (GATV)
A modified Agena stage launched by an Atlas, which
served as a target for rendezvous and docking experiments
during the Gemini program. The GATV was an
Agena D with a Target Docking Adapter (TDA) on the
front. At the start of the Gemini 9 mission, the GATV
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