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. It carried about 14,021 to 14,054 pounds (6,360 to 6,375 kg) of propellant and gas at launch, and had a gross mass at orbital insertion of 7,117 to 7,271 pounds (3,228 to 3,298 kg). 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. The name 'Agena' derived from the star Beta Centauri, also known as Agena.
The spacecraft was based on Lockheed Aircraft's Agena-D upper stage rocket, fitted with a docking target manufactured by McDonnell Aircraft. The Agena Target Vehicle ( / ə ˈ dʒ iː n ə/ 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.
0 kommentar(er)
