Gemini X
Gemini 10 is boosted into a higher orbit by its Agena Target Vehicle
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| 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 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 UTC |
| Landing site | 26°44.7′N 71°57′W / 26.7450°N 71.950°W |
| 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 |
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 (L-R) Young, Collins |
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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.
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