 | This timeline of spaceflight may require cleanup to ensure consistency with other timeline of spaceflight articles. See Wikipedia:WikiProject Spaceflight/Timeline of spaceflight working group for guidelines on how to improve the article. Details Concerns have been raised that:
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 Gemini 8 about to dock with its Agena target vehicle, the first time two spacecraft dock in orbit. | |
| Orbital launches | |
|---|---|
| First | 7 January |
| Last | 29 December |
| Total | 131 |
| Successes | 111 |
| Failures | 13 |
| Partial failures | 7 |
| Catalogued | 118 |
| Crewed flights | |
| Orbital | 5 |
| Total travellers | 10 |
The year 1966 saw the peak and the end of the Gemini program. The program proved that docking in space and human EVA's could be done safely. It saw the first launch of the Saturn IB rocket, an important step in the Apollo program, and the launch of Luna 9, the first spacecraft to make a soft landing on a celestial object (the Moon).