Gemini 10 astronauts John Young and Michael Collins, 1966.

Gemini 10 was launched on 18th July 1966 and made 43 orbits of the Earth on its three-day mision during which it docked with an Agena target vehicle. The achievements of the Gemini misions were vital for developing the Apollo programme that put the first astronauts on the Moon in 1969. Both Collins and Young flew on Apollo misions. Collins was the Command Module pilot who remained in lunar orbit while Neil Armstrong and Edwin 'Buzz' Aldrin became the first men to walk on the Moon. Young flew on Apollo 10, the dres rehearsal for the first landing, and also on Apollo 16, when he became the ninth man to set foot on the lunar surface.