Which US program performed the first rendezvous between two spacecraft?

Apollo-Soyuz Test Project
Celebrating its 45th anniversary this month, NASA’s Apollo-Soyuz Test Project (ASTP) was the first time that spacecraft from two different countries, the U.S. and the Soviet Union (Russia today), achieved rendezvous, docking and undocking in space.

What was NASA’s first two person spacecraft called?

Gemini Program
The Gemini Program. After Mercury, NASA introduced Gemini, an enlarged, redesigned spacecraft for two astronauts. Ten manned Gemini missions were flown from 1964 through 1966 to improve techniques of spacecraft control, rendezvous and docking, and extravehicular activity (spacewalking).

Who made the first space rendezvous?

astronaut Wally Schirra
First successful rendezvous Rendezvous was first successfully accomplished by US astronaut Wally Schirra on December 15, 1965. Schirra maneuvered the Gemini 6 spacecraft within 1 foot (30 cm) of its sister craft Gemini 7.

What was NASA’s first spacecraft?

space shuttle
On September 17, 1976, NASA publicly unveils its first space shuttle, the Enterprise, during a ceremony in Palmdale, California. Development of the aircraft-like spacecraft cost almost $10 billion and took nearly a decade.

What is the first international space rendezvous?

Fifty years ago, the two-tiered NASA mission Gemini 7/6A made history by proving that two independently launched spacecraft piloted by astronauts could meet up while orbiting Earth. Humankind’s first rendezvous in space happened Dec. 15, 1965.

When was the first rendezvous in space?

December 15, 1965
Fifty years ago, on December 15, 1965, Gemini VI and VII met for the first rendezvous in space.

What was the first space mission?

First outer space flights The first successful orbital launch was of the Soviet uncrewed Sputnik 1 (“Satellite 1”) mission on 4 October 1957. The satellite weighed about 83 kg (183 lb), and is believed to have orbited Earth at a height of about 250 km (160 mi).

What was the first spaceship called?

Sputnik 1
The first spacecraft, the Soviet Union’s Sputnik 1, was launched on October 4, 1957; it weighed 83.6 kg (184 pounds). It was soon followed by other unmanned Soviet and U.S. spacecraft and, within four years (April 12, 1961), by the first manned spacecraft, Vostok 1, which carried the Soviet cosmonaut Yury Gagarin.

What was the first spacecraft?

Sputnik 1 spacecraft
Description. The Sputnik 1 spacecraft was the first artificial satellite successfully placed in orbit around the Earth and was launched from Baikonur Cosmodrome at Tyuratam (370 km southwest of the small town of Baikonur) in Kazakhstan, then part of the former Soviet Union.

What was the first space shuttle in space?

Space shuttle Columbia
Space shuttle Columbia was the first shuttle to reach space when it was launched from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center on Apr. 12, 1981.

When did Voyager 1 and 2 launch?

From the NASA Kennedy Space Center at Cape Canaveral, Florida, Voyager 2 was launched first, on August 20, 1977; Voyager 1 was launched on a faster, shorter trajectory on September 5, 1977. Both spacecraft were delivered to space aboard Titan-Centaur expendable rockets.

What was special about the solar system when Voyagers 1 and 2 launched?

Voyager 1 and 2 were designed to take advantage of a rare planetary alignment to study the outer solar system up close. Voyager 2 targeted Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune. Like its sister spacecraft, Voyager 2 also was designed to find and study the edge of our solar system.

What was the first space rendezvous in space?

Fifty years ago, on December 15, 1965, Gemini VI and VII met for the first rendezvous in space. This was not NASA’s original plan. Gemini VI, commanded by Mercury astronaut Wally Schirra and piloted by Tom Stafford, was supposed to have orbited on October 25, to rendezvous and dock with an Agena target vehicle.

What was the first spacecraft to dock with the ISS?

Gemini 6 was to have been the first docking mission, but had to be cancelled when that mission’s Agena vehicle was destroyed during launch. The Soviets carried out the first automated, uncrewed docking between Cosmos 186 and Cosmos 188 on October 30, 1967.

Who was the first astronaut to successfully maneuver a spacecraft?

Rendezvous was first successfully accomplished by US astronaut Wally Schirra on December 15, 1965. Schirra maneuvered the Gemini 6 spacecraft within 1 foot (30 cm) of its sister craft Gemini 7.

What is it called when two spacecraft approach each other?

A space rendezvous (/ ˈrɒndeɪvuː /) is a set of orbital maneuvers during which two spacecraft, one of which is often a space station, arrive at the same orbit and approach to a very close distance (e.g. within visual contact).