Agena docking target vehicle as seen from Gemini 8 before the mission’s historic docking on March 16, 1966. (Image credit: NASA) Meeting with history ...

Gemini 8’s ordeal began shortly after its docking triumph, when Armstrong and Scott began a program of planned maneuvers to test the stability of the Gemini-Agena system.

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.

Project Gemini was a series of two-man, Earth-orbital missions that pioneered rendezvous, docking, and maneuvering in-space, as well as spacewalking ...

NASA . The Gemini 10 astronauts successfully docked their spacecraft with the Agena Target Docking Vehicle and boosted the combined crafts into a higher orbit with an apogee of 413 nautical miles ...

Gemini VIII’s Agena during the fly-around shortly before docking. Twenty-seven minutes later, as the Agena was executing a planned maneuver to turn the combined spacecraft 90 degrees, Scott ...

Soon after that, Gemini 11 in September 1966 achieved an Agena-D docking on its first orbit, 85 minutes after launch, simulating an emergency rendezvous between an Apollo LM and CSM.