Gemini IX Crew Found 'Angry Alligator' in Earth Orbit
NASA - Gemini IX Mission patch.
June 1, 2016
NASA’s Gemini IX mission was another step in developing technology for future spaceflights from Apollo to the agency’s Journey to Mars. But this mission included developing alternate plans when faced with the unexpected.
Image above: An Augmented Target Docking Adapter, or ATDA, launches atop an Atlas rocket from Cape Kennedy Air Force Station’s Launch Complex 14 on June 1, 1966. The ATDA served as a rendezvous target for Gemini IXA. Image Credit: NASA.
Gemini IX provided NASA with crucial experience in learning how to be flexible, expanding skills in orbital rendezvous and gaining a better understanding of the challenges faced by spacewalking astronauts.