A radio-controlled “Agena target vehicle” would be put in orbit first; then Gemini 8 would launch, catch up to the Agena, and gently slide its nose into a docking collar on the Agena’s nose.

Gemini 8 was in trouble. After completing the first space docking with another craft, it begins to spin uncontrollably. Ditching protocol, commanding officer Neil Armstrong tries an unorthodox plan.

2022 The Gemini 8 mission launched March 16, 1966, with Armstrong and fellow astronaut David Scott. While in orbit, Armstrong and Scott achieved the first docking between two spacecraft ...