Space: Of Glory & Cliches

NASA scientists continue to glow over Gemini 10's space success, but key questions remain. Almost continuous debriefing of Astronauts John Young and Mike Collins has pinpointed but not solved the two major "gliches"—fuel shortage and eye watering—that almost snarled the threeday, record-setting flight.

Brute-Force Buttonhook. The fuel problem arose during Gemini 10's tricky fourth-orbit rendezvous with Agena 10. To determine the final thrust required for the interception, Young and Collins used data from the on-board radar, inertial guidance and computer system. In some as yet unknown way, the system produced a figure...

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