Talk:Agena target vehicle

Flight statistics table kgs?

On several rows the flight statistics table has a mysterious "kg" notation in the in comments column. for example the first line, GATV-5002, has the comment "Exploded during launch. 3,261-kg". There appears to be a correlation between failed missions and having the notation, but even having worked out that much it's still a mystery what it means. Can someone knowledgeable please expand or provide an explanation for the benefit of general readers? Thanks Kiore (talk) 23:52, 22 November 2010 (UTC)[reply]

I've added a "Mass" column for clarity. It's just the mass in kilograms. Mlm42 (talk) 04:42, 14 December 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Some of those masses look fishy. The ones which actually achieved orbit (except for the ATDA) all happen to be an even 7,000 pounds, while the two which failed at launch are only slightly more. Is this supposed to be the mass at launch (fully fueled)? JustinTime55 (talk) 15:23, 14 September 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Duplicate launch photo not necessary

Director Emi, please stop edit warring. Your picture of the Gemini 6 launch which failed, duplicates the Gemini 8 launch photo already in the article, and there is no illustrative value to having another one in this article (they all look the same, except for the ATDA launch). Please direct your efforts to actually increase the informational value of the article. Thank you. JustinTime55 (talk) 22:23, 17 February 2012 (UTC)[reply]

GATV?

This article begins with the text: "Agena Target Vehicle (ATV)", however the acronym "ATV" is then used interchangably with the acronym "GATV" throughout the remainder of the article with no explanation for what "GATV" stands for.

The correct full name of this vehicle was the Gemini-Agena Target Vehicle. While it is known more often among space enthusiasts by it's colloquial name of just "The Agena", the Agena-D was a Lockheed upper stage that was used for many purposes beyond it's use as a base for the GATV.

I suggest the title of this article be changed to "Gemini-Agena Target Vehicle" with a redirect from "Agena Target Vehicle", and all references to the acronym "ATV" be changed to "GATV". If no one has any objections, I'll make these changes in a couple of weeks. Gcronau (talk) 13:22, 22 December 2013 (UTC)[reply]

What is the acronym that NASA actually used? There must be one: NASA love acronyms, even their own name is one. Whatever the NASA acronym is, that is the acronym that we should use. --Redrose64 (talk) 14:03, 22 December 2013 (UTC)[reply]

NASA seems to consistently refer to it as the "GATV" when talking about it in acronym form, but can't seem to decide what to call it when using it's full name. For instance, consider this official NASA page on the Gemini VIII mission: http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/nmc/spacecraftDisplay.do?id=1966-020A It always uses the acronym GATV, but calls it the "Agena Target Vehicle" twice, and the "Gemini Agena Target Vehicle" only once.

Since the vehicles are always identified in the form GATV-XXXX, like GATV-5002 for example, I strongly believe the "Official" name of the vehicle is supposed to be "Gemini-Agena Target Vehicle", but "Agena Target Vehicle" is used both as a shorthand and to more clearly differentiate it from the Gemini capsule itself.

In fact, if you look at this NASA page for the vehicle itself: http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/nmc/spacecraftDisplay.do?id=1966-019A the full name for each vehicle was numbered to correspond to it's matching Gemini mission. For example "Gemini 8 Agena Target Vehicle". This page also lists "Agena Target Vehicle" as an "alternate" name.Gcronau (talk) 15:30, 22 December 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Copy-and-paste

I just moved the page to "Agena Target Vehicle by copy and pasting, and someone undo my moving and said me that I would move it in the "traditional" way. I want to say that I tried to do it, but it was impossible.

--Aledownload (talk) 14:04, 30 August 2017 (UTC)[reply]

Where are all these now?

Still in orbit? Reentered? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 208.101.130.34 (talk) 15:37, 17 October 2018 (UTC)[reply]

Read the article (table in Flight statistics section). Your question is answered there. JustinTime55 (talk) 15:44, 17 October 2018 (UTC)[reply]

Great name

The Gemini 9A astronauts gave a great name to the Agena with the shroud not separated: "Angry Alligator". 2001:8003:E490:7D01:5191:C462:66AE:6FB2 (talk) 10:19, 24 January 2023 (UTC)[reply]