What was the first space rendezvous between two crewed spacecraft, achieved by Gemini 6A and Gemini 7 in 1965?

Gemini 6A and Gemini 7 achieved the first rendezvous between two crewed spacecraft on 15 December 1965.

Gemini 6A, carrying Wally Schirra and Thomas Stafford, approached Gemini 7, whose crew was Frank Borman and James Lovell. The spacecraft manoeuvred to within about 30 centimetres of one another, but they did not physically dock because Gemini lacked a docking mechanism.

The rendezvous proved that astronauts and flight controllers could coordinate precise orbital manoeuvres. That capability was essential for Apollo, whose lunar missions required the Lunar Module to rendezvous and dock with the Command Module in lunar orbit.

The mission followed an earlier launch attempt that was aborted after Gemini 6A’s rocket engines shut down shortly after ignition. Gemini 7 also set a crewed space-endurance record with a mission lasting nearly 14 days.