Gemini 10

Gemini X

Gemini 10 is boosted into a higher orbit by its Agena Target Vehicle
Operator	NASA
COSPAR ID	1966-066A
SATCAT no.	2349
Mission duration	2 days, 22 hours, 46 minutes, 39 seconds
Orbits completed	43
Spacecraft properties
Spacecraft	Gemini SC10
Manufacturer	McDonnell
Launch mass	8,295 pounds (3,762.6 kg)
Landing mass	4,254 pounds (1,930 kg)
Crew
Crew size	2
Members	John W. Young Michael Collins
EVAs	2
EVA duration	1 hour, 28 minutes
Start of mission
Launch date	July 18, 1966, 22:20:26 (1966-07-18UTC22:20:26Z) UTC
Rocket	Titan II GLV, s/n #62-12565
Launch site	Cape Kennedy LC-19
End of mission
Recovered by	USS Guadalcanal
Landing date	July 21, 1966, 21:07:05 (1966-07-21UTC21:07:06Z) UTC
Landing site	26°44.7′N 71°57′W / 26.7450°N 71.950°W / 26.7450; -71.950 (Gemini 10 splashdown)
Orbital parameters
Reference system	Geocentric
Regime	Low Earth orbit
Perigee	161 nautical miles (299 km)
Apogee	408 nautical miles (756 km)
Inclination	28.8 degrees
Period	95.19 minutes
Epoch	July 19, 1966
Docking with GATV-5005
Docking date	July 19, 1966, 04:15:00 UTC
Undocking date	July 20, 1966, 19:00:00 UTC
Time docked	1 day, 14 hours, 45 minutes
(L-R) Young, Collins Project Gemini ← Gemini 9A Gemini 11 →

Gemini 10 (officially Gemini X) was a 1966 manned spaceflight in NASA's Gemini program. It was the 8th manned Gemini flight, the 16th manned American flight and the 24th spaceflight of all time (includes X-15 flights over 100 kilometers (54 nautical miles)).

Gemini 10 established that radiation at high altitude was not a problem. After docking with their Agena booster in low orbit, Young and Collins used it to climb temporarily to 412.4 nautical miles (763.8 km). After leaving the first Agena, they then met with the dead, drifting Agena left over from the aborted Gemini 8 flight—thus executing the program's first double rendezvous. With no electricity on board the second Agena, the rendezvous was accomplished with eyes only—no radar. After the rendezvous, Collins spacewalked over to the dormant Agena at the end of a 50-foot (15 m) tether, making Collins the first person to meet another spacecraft in orbit. He retrieved a cosmic dust-collecting panel from the side of the Agena, but was not able to take any pictures; in the complicated business of keeping his tether clear of the Gemini and Agena, his Hasselblad camera worked itself free and drifted away.

Gemini 10 was designed to achieve the objectives planned for the last two missions—rendezvous, docking and EVA. As well as this it was also hoped to dock with the Agena Target Vehicle from the Gemini 8 mission. This Agena's battery power had failed many months earlier and this would demonstrate the ability to rendezvous with a passive object. It would be also the first mission to fire the Agena's own rocket, allowing them to reach higher orbits.