Uncrewed spacecraft used during NASA's Gemini program
Gemini-Agena Target Vehicle
Manufacturer
Lockheed Aircraft
McDonnell Aircraft
Country of origin
United States
Operator
NASA
Applications
Docking target
Space tug
Specifications
Launch mass
18,030–18,100 pounds (8,180–8,210 kg)
Dry mass
4,012–4,085 pounds (1,820–1,853 kg)
Dimensions
5 feet (1.52 m) diameter
26 feet (7.92 m) long
Power
Batteries
Equipment
Guidance
Flight control electronics
Telemetry
Command
Tracking
Propellant pressurization
Production
Status
Retired
Built
7
Launched
7
Failed
3
Maiden launch
October 25, 1965
Last launch
November 11, 1966
Related spacecraft
Derived from
Agena-D
Derivatives
Augmented Target Docking Adapter
Flown with
Gemini
The Agena Target Vehicle (/əˈdʒiːnə/; ATV), also known as Gemini-Agena Target Vehicle (GATV), was an uncrewed spacecraft used by NASA during its Gemini program to develop and practice orbital space rendezvous and docking techniques, and to perform large orbital changes, in preparation for the Apollo program lunar missions.[1]
The spacecraft was based on Lockheed Aircraft's Agena-D upper stage rocket, fitted with a docking target manufactured by McDonnell Aircraft. The name 'Agena' derived from the star Beta Centauri, also known as Agena.
The combined spacecraft was a 26-foot (7.92 m)-long cylinder with a diameter of 5 feet (1.52 m), placed into low Earth orbit with the Atlas-Agena launch vehicle. It carried about 14,000 pounds (6,400 kg) of propellant and gas at launch,[2] and had a gross mass at orbital insertion of about 7,200 pounds (3,300 kg).
The ATV for Gemini 6 failed on launch on October 25, 1965, which led NASA to develop a backup: the Augmented Target Docking Adapter (ATDA), a smaller spacecraft consisting of the docking target with an attitude control propulsion system but without the Agena orbital change rocket. The ATDA was used once on Gemini 9A after a second ATV launch failure on May 17, 1966, but failed as a docking target because its launch shroud failed to separate.
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^Gemini 6 Target: NASA Space Science Data Coordinated Archive
and 24 Related for: Agena target vehicle information
especially the Agenatargetvehicle used in preparation for the Apollo program lunar missions AMD K10, a processor codenamed "Agena" Aegina (disambiguation)...
months earlier, NASA had launched an AgenaTargetVehicle for Gemini 6, but the Atlas-Agena launch failed when the Agena's engine exploded during orbital injection...
Constellation, until that program's cancellation in October 2010. The Agenatargetvehicle (ATV) was used for testing Earth orbit rendezvous in the NASA Gemini...
(first orbit) rendezvous with an AgenaTargetVehicle, docking with it 1 hour 34 minutes after launch; used the Agena rocket engine to achieve a record...
It also achieved the fifth rendezvous and fourth docking with an Agenatargetvehicle. Gemini XII marked a successful conclusion of the Gemini program...
mission's AgenaTargetVehicle was destroyed after a launch failure. The mission was flown June 3–6, 1966, after launch of the backup Augmented Target Docking...
a targetvehicle, and fly the spacecraft and targetvehicle together using gravity-gradient stabilization, perform docked maneuvers using the Agena propulsion...
successfully docked with the Agena, achieving the fifth space rendezvous and fourth space docking with an Agenatargetvehicle. Lovell then successfully...
docking with an AgenaTargetVehicle (ATV), and EVA. It was also planned to dock with the ATV from the Gemini 8 mission. This Agena's battery power had...
minutes later, the uncrewed Atlas-Agenatargetvehicle was launched. After a successful burn of the Atlas booster, the Agena's engine fired to separate it from...
proposals ranged from reusing the docking systems developed for the Agenatargetvehicle on more powerful upper stages such as the Centaur, which could propel...
1965. Gemini 8 achieved the first space docking with an uncrewed AgenaTargetVehicle on March 16, 1966. Gemini 8 was also the first US spacecraft to experience...
nuclear ICBM and as the orbital launch vehicle for Project Mercury and the remote-controlled AgenaTargetVehicle used in Project Gemini. In 1955, with...
uncrewed AgenaTargetVehicle. Gemini 6 was to have been the first docking mission, but had to be cancelled when that mission's Agenavehicle was destroyed...
spacecraft, the AgenaTargetVehicle. The system was also used to push the spacecraft away from the spent second stage of the Titan II launch vehicle on first...
to produce artificial gravity by rotating the capsule around the AgenaTargetVehicle to which it was attached by a 36-meter tether. They were able to...
the command of Wally Schirra, with an uncrewed AgenaTargetVehicle in October 1965, but the Agenavehicle exploded during launch. On the revised mission...
uncrewed AgenaTargetVehicle. Gemini 6 was to have been the first docking mission, but had to be cancelled when that mission's Agenavehicle was destroyed...
orbital rendezvous with an Agenatargetvehicle, but this had been deferred to a later mission owing to problems with the Agena. Nonetheless, Cooper practiced...
with the Gemini spacecraft, Titan II and Atlas boosters, and the Agenatargetvehicle. Jungle survival training was conducted at the USAF Tropic Survival...
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