The Development of the Gemini Docking System

The Gemini program calls for the rendezvous and docking of a Gemini spacecraft with an Agena-D target vehicle. The dynamic analysis of the docking maneuver begins with a simplified two-degree-of-freedom analytical study and culminates in a study involving eight planar rigid body degrees-of-freedom. The dynamic coefficients of the docking system are determined and data from a one-quarter scale free-body docking model test program is used to confirm the adequacy of the mathematical model. The study is then expanded to include the vehicles’ stabilization systems to determine their effect on the docking maneuver.