The Explorers' Club, № DCCCXXX

Operation AXIOM: The Space Race—The 55th Anniversary of Gemini X
18-19 July 1966: Gemini X lifted off from Florida's Cape Kennedy Air Force Station, with Command Pilot John Young & Pilot Michael Collins aboard a Gemini spacecraft atop a Titan II G.L.V. rocket; they docked with their Agena & used its engine to set a new altitude record, & rendezvoused with Gemini VIII's derelict Agena; they splashed down in the Atlantic & were recovered by the U.S.S. Guadalcanal.

Commentary: The batteries of Gemini VIII's Agena Target Vehicle were exhausted, rendering its radar non-functional; Gemini X conducted the only visual rendezvous of the Gemini program. Because the Agena didn't have any power, it was too dangerous for Gemini X to attempt a docking, but Collins was able to spacewalk over & retrieve a Micrometeorite Collector from the Agena that Dave Scott was meant to retrieve, before the emergency that brought Gemini VIII to an early end.

Bonus! Space Race Song o' the Day: Gemini X
John Williams, "High-Wire Stunts" from Jurassic Park: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack (Space Cadet Mike Papa Whiskey)

Semper exploro.