Docking is the act of connecting two spacecraft via docking ports. It is usually performed during space station construction or joining parts of a rocket to become a larger rocket.
After two spacecraft rendezvous (get close/meet) the spacecraft that will dock to the other one will "stop" and slowly come into the docking port of the other spacecraft. When the two spacecraft dock, the docking ports lock (this depends on the type of the docking port). The spacecrafts become one. When docked, refuelling is not available when the rocket is docked to another. When it's time to separate, the spacecrafts' docking ports unlock, causing the spacecraft to become separate again.
Real Docking Spacecraft[]
- Soyuz
- Soyuz-MS
- Soyuz-TMA-M
- Soyuz-T
- Soyuz-TM
- Soyuz-TMA
- Soyuz 7K-LOK
- Apollo
- Apollo Command and Service Module
- Lunar Excursion Module