On Mar 31, 9:32*am, Peter Stickney wrote:
Fevric J. Glandules wrote:
I Am Not A Rocket Scientist. *But nonetheless, can anybody explain
to me why it has taken until 2013 to make 1960s technology do what
it could have done all along?

Ref:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-21972804

Confidence in their ability to calculate the velocitys required,
match those velocities precisely, and validate that they are
meeting those requirements.
Timing makes a difference too - since the Earth is rotating under the
ISS's and the docking spacecraft's orbit when they are launched, you
have to adjust the orbital period to allow the orbital planes to
match, and accelerate the cocking spacecraft at the right time
to match the target's velocity/orbital altitude.

--
Pete Stickney
From the foothills of the Florida Alps

All of which was 100% doable as of 40+ years ago, unless you don't
happen to believe 100% in our NASA/Apollo era when our Nazi Paperclip
guys were accomplishing this task on a regular basis, except doing it
while orbiting our moon.