As part of the manned mission to the moon taken up by the US in the 1960s, NASA had to first perfect the art of rocketry and with it the ability to put men into orbit around the Earth. Just as importantly, NASA, with the help of the US Navy, was still looking to bring back each capsule and crew intact, which was oftentimes easier said than done given the difficulties associated with water landings.
Gemini X, as it was known, was designed to achieve rendezvous and docking with an Agena Target Vehicle (ATV), and EVA. It was also planned to dock with the ATV from the Gemini VIII mission. This Agena’s battery power had failed months earlier, and an approach and docking 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.
Gemini X 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 rendezvoused with the derelict Agena left over from the aborted Gemini VIII 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 him the first person to meet another spacecraft in orbit. Collins then retrieved a cosmic dust-collecting panel from the side of the Agena. As he was concentrating on keeping his tether clear of the Gemini and Agena, Collins’ Hasselblad camera worked itself free and drifted away, so he was unable to take photographs during the spacewalk.
The last day of the mission was short and retrofire came at 70 hours and 10 minutes into the mission. They landed only 3.0 nautical miles (5.6 km) away from the intended landing site and were recovered by the USS Guadalcanal (CVE-60).
To commemorate this important mission, Corgi has released a 1:72 scale replica of a US Navy Sikorsky SH-3A Sea King helicopter that was attached to HS-3 “Tridents”, then embarked upon the USS Guadalcanal. This particular helicopter was instrumental in the recovery of the Gemini X capsule and its two-man crew on July 21st, 1965.
