Here am I floating ‘round a tin can⁣ ⁣ The goals of Gemini IX included docking with a target vehicle and conducting a lengthy spacewalk during a three-day mission. The actual flight did not go entirely according to the original plan.⁣ ⁣ On May 17, 1966, the Agena docking target vehicle lifted off from Launch Pad 14 at the Cape Kennedy Air Force Station (now the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station) in Florida. One of the Atlas rocket’s two booster engines started to wobble 10 seconds before their planned shutdown, sending the entire rocket into a tumble from which it could not recover. The Agena separated as planned but headed in the wrong direction, ending up in the Atlantic Ocean instead of Earth orbit. On June 1, 1966, NASA launched a contingency vehicle called the Augmented Target Docking Adapter (ATDA). ⁣ ⁣ ATDA successfully reached orbit although its protective shroud failed to deploy as planned. Astronauts Thomas P. Stafford and Eugene A. Cernan awaited their turn inside Gemini IX...