docking systems
Spacecraft joining equipment
Docking systems are mechanisms that allow two objects to connect securely.
The term appears most often in aerospace, where spacecraft dock with space stations or other vessels: The docking system failed, forcing a manual approach.
The concept extends to consumer electronics—laptop docking stations connect portable computers to monitors, keyboards, and peripherals.
In shipping, docking systems guide vessels into berths.
- airlocksSealed compartments between atmospheres
- sealAuthentication stamp or mark
- mooring linesRopes securing vessels to dock
- rendezvousScheduled meeting at agreed location
- final approachLanding's concluding flight path
latch · bollards · berthing · guide · umbilical · coupling · zero gravity · space walk · orbital mechanics · align · spacecraft · astronautics · orbit · mission control · robotic arms · telemetry · approach · linkup
docking systemsdeployment systems
docking systemsautonomous navigation
Machine-directed movement through space
dock, system, systems, docking, dockyard, subsystem, dockage