docking

In spaceflight, rendezvous is the process of bringing two spacecraft close together, typically within 100 meters, while docking is their subsequent physical joining. For a rendezvous, one spacecraft is already in orbit, and the second is launched to meet it. The second craft is launched to achieve a coplanar orbit just below the first, allowing it to overtake and then match the first craft's altitude and velocity.1

Key historical rendezvous and docking missions include:
* Gemini 6 and 7 (1965) performed the first rendezvous of two crewed spacecraft.1
* Gemini 8 (1966) achieved the first docking of two spacecraft.1
* Apollo missions saw the Lunar Module rendezvous and dock with the Command Module.1
* Russian Soyuz spacecraft and U.S. space shuttle orbiters have routinely docked with space stations.1

Rendezvous and docking are crucial for assembling large structures like the International Space Station and for rotating space crews.1