Gemini X

Occurred 58 years ago

Gemini X was the eighth crewed Earth-orbiting spacecraft of the Gemini series, carrying astronauts John Young and Michael Collins. Its primary purpose was to conduct rendezvous and docking tests with the Agena target vehicle. The mission plan included a rendezvous with the Gemini 8 Agena target, two extravehicular activity (EVA) excursions, and the performance of 15 scientific, technological, and medical experiments. The scientific experiments were related to (1) zodiacal light, synoptic terrain, and synoptic weather photography, (2) micrometeorite collections, (3) UV astronomical camera, (4) ion wake measurements, and (5) meteoroid erosion.

Mission Type

Human Spaceflight

mission duration

2 days, 22 hours, 46 minutes, 39 seconds

Launch

July 18, 1966

Landing

July 21, 1966

John Young and Mike Collins on the USS Guadalcanal

The crew of the Gemini 10 X, astronaut John W. Young (left), command pilot, and Michael Collins, pilot, aboard the recovery ship USS Guadalcanal on July 21, 1966. The astronauts were picked up from the ocean by a recovery helicopter and flown to the Guadalcanal to begin postflight medical and technical debriefings.

NASA

The Gemini X Prime Crew

John W. Young

Command pilot (second spaceflight)

Michael Collins

Pilot (first spaceflight)

NASA space science data coordinated archive

Gemini X

The NSSDC provides an in-depth overview of the Gemini X mission objectives, spacecraft, and program.

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S66-46249 (18-21 July 1966) — Agena Target Docking Vehicle docked to Gemini-10 spacecraft. Excellent view of Agena display panel. Glow from Agena’s primary propulsion system. Photo credit: NASA

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