Rendezvous Docking Simulator
United States historic place in Hampton (Independent City), Virginia. Added to the National Register in 1985, and a National Historic Landmark.
What it is
The Rendezvous Docking Simulator, also known as the Real-Time Dynamic Simulator, is a simulator at the Langley Research Center. It was constructed for the Gemini program in Building 1244 and it became operational in June 1963 at a cost of $320,000 and later reconfigured for the Apollo program. The simulator consists of a gantry frame, with an overhead carriage from which test craft were suspended by cables. A gimbal was powered hydraulically and was capable of changing pitch and yaw at a rate of 1 radian per second or roll at 2 radians per second. The gantry also moved like an overhead crane using electric motors and was capable of travelling 210 feet (64 m) longitudinally at up to 20 feet per second (6.1 m/s), 16 feet (4.9 m) laterally at up to 4 feet per second (1.2 m/s) and vertically 45 feet (14 m) at up to 10 feet per second (3.0 m/s).
Text from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.
The record
| Property type | Object |
| Address | Langley Research Center, Hampton (Independent City), VA |
| Independent city | City of Hampton |
| Listed | Oct 3, 1985 |
| Listed for | Engineering, Transportation |
| Level of significance | National |
| Also known as | Real-Time Dynamic Simulator |
| Reference number | 85002809 |
| Type of place | simulator |
| Designations | National Historic Landmark, Virginia Historic Landmark |
| Contributing resources | 1 object |
The nomination form, the document that argues why this place matters, is in the National Archives: Read the nomination ↗
Visiting
| Address | Langley Research Center, Hampton (Independent City), VA |
| Coordinates | 37.0858° N, 76.3777° W · Directions ↗ |
| Also in Hampton (Independent City) | 24 listed places in Hampton (Independent City) → |
| Nearest national park unit | Fort Monroe National Monument · 6 miles · on Park Atlas |
Explore
Map
Nearby in City of Hampton
Public land around it
| Plum Tree Island National Wildlife Refuge ↗National Wildlife Refuge, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service | About 3 miles away3,056 acres |
Wilderness Atlas publishes a centroid and an acreage for each unit, not a boundary line. Distance here is measured to a circle of the same area drawn around that centroid, so treat it as roughly right rather than surveyed.
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Reference
Questions people ask
When was Rendezvous Docking Simulator listed on the National Register?
Oct 3, 1985. It is also a National Historic Landmark, the higher of the two designations.
Source: National Park Service
Where is Rendezvous Docking Simulator?
Langley Research Center, Hampton (Independent City), City of Hampton, Virginia. The nearest national park unit is Fort Monroe National Monument, 6 miles away.
Source: Fort Monroe National Monument
Where is the nomination form for Rendezvous Docking Simulator?
The National Archives holds the nomination form, the document that made the case for listing.
Source: National Archives
Is there cell service at Rendezvous Docking Simulator?
FCC coverage maps show Verizon 5G, AT&T 5G, and T-Mobile 5G at the listed point. Coverage indoors and behind old masonry is another matter.
Source: FCC Broadband Map
Sources
Location, type and contributing counts come from the National Park Service's National Register spatial data. Listing dates come from the National Register office's spreadsheet where it carries the listing. Construction date, architect, style, photograph and encyclopedia link come from Wikidata and Wikimedia Commons, matched on reference number 85002809. Nothing here is transcribed by hand. The nomination form and photographs ↗ at NPGallery are the original nomination as filed with the National Park Service, and the form is often the best description of the place. The description under "What it is" is the opening of the Wikipedia article, CC BY-SA.