Gemini 8 Agena Target Vehicle (GATV-5003)

GATV-5003 was the Agena target that participated in the first docking of two spacecraft, with Gemini 8 on March 16, 1966. The docking ended when a malfunction in Gemini's own attitude-control system forced an emergency return. Controllers subsequently commanded propulsion tests on the Agena until its electrical power was exhausted. In July, the same vehicle became Gemini 10's passive rendezvous target, and Michael Collins retrieved its micrometeoroid experiment during EVA. NASA's catalog records atmospheric decay on September 15, 1967.