the James Bond movie series frequently took its inspiration from the U.S./Soviet space rivalry. In the first 007 feature, "Dr. No" (1962), the sinister international crime organization SPECTRE was revealed to behind the failure of America's early space rocket launches. For 1967's "You Only Live Twice," the filmmakers at EON Productions once again returned to space, this time inspired by the aborted flight of Gemini IXA. In that June 1966 mission, NASA astronauts Gene Cernan and Thomas Stafford were supposed to dock with an orbiting Agena target vehicle to test the mechanism intended for use on the Apollo Lunar Module. Instead, the pair found that the protective shroud covering the Agena's docking collar had failed to fully jettison, making the vehicle look like an "angry alligator."
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