Who Needs An Aircraft Carrier?

"f86sabre" (f86sabre) 11/10/2013 at 21:12 • Filed to: Spacelopnik, Gemini

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A paraglider setup was tested a possible landing solution for Project Gemini. The capsule was, infact, intended to land that way, but was changed to go with the more conventional splashdown. Gliding in allowed for a potentially softer landing for the spacecraft and crew and saved on the costs of deploying an aircraft carrier. Lest we forget, Gemini is pretty much the most bad ass space program the US has run. Two years of flights consisting of hardcore research and testing. This is coming from a guy who uses a staging Saturn V as his avatar. Gemini was awesome.

Photo credits: capcomspace.net, ramp archive.com, up-ship.com, Wikipedia, vintagespace.files.wordpress.com

pdthedeuce > f86sabre 11/10/2013 at 21:29

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on an almost completely unrelated note , I had a major crush on Robert Crippen's daughter in elementary school .

rabbitman > f86sabre 11/10/2013 at 21:42

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Awesome, I think we have a new winner on fastest 3 wheeled vehicle.

Rassss > pdthedeuce 11/10/2013 at 21:42

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Almost?

pdthedeuce > Rassss 11/10/2013 at 21:47

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do you know who Robert Crippen is?

f86sabre > pdthedeuce 11/10/2013 at 21:52

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What grade? Crippen had a good career. If the MOL program would have been launched it would have been spectacular.

pdthedeuce > f86sabre 11/10/2013 at 22:01

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IIRC , it was 3rd til 6th grade . he lived four houses away from me in LaPorte , Texas . He was really cool , came to our school to discuss the Apollo-Soyuz link-up (showing my age here) . he had a big empty lot next to his house and he let me fly kites there . His daughter is why I , to this day , have a thing for girls that wear glasses .

The Transporter > f86sabre 11/10/2013 at 22:07

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Gemini is pretty much the most bad ass space program the US has run.

I heartily second that.

james-thomas > pdthedeuce 11/10/2013 at 22:07

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details, ladies!

beardsbynelly - Rikerbeard > f86sabre 11/10/2013 at 22:20

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god damn that's cool!

searching for gliding parachutes for Kerbal Space Program..

RocketPropelled > f86sabre 11/10/2013 at 22:30

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Gusmobile. On wheels. With a big wing on top. Of course, since they weren't gonna land Apollo that way, no dice on flying that gorgeous beast.

Cheesewhiz > pdthedeuce 11/10/2013 at 22:50

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Crippen was the man! He was a huge star after piloting the first space shuttle mission in, what, '81? My dad met him (they looked alike!) and I still have his autograph around somewhere.

manifold engines > f86sabre 11/10/2013 at 22:53

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Remember building a model in the 60's that included the Parawing.

Orange_C > f86sabre 11/10/2013 at 23:23

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This may be blatantly obvious, but how in the hell is that supposed to work in the vacuum of space? The moon effectively has no atmosphere/air/any gas that would be needed for the paraglider to well, glide like they do in earth's atmosphere.

Edit: wow, I'm an idiot, I completely glazed over the fact that it's for landing on the earth, not the moon. Laughing heartily at my self here.

Joneez > f86sabre 11/10/2013 at 23:26

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12 flights? I remember seeing that top pic somewhere but didn't think to look into it. Sigh...another evening lost to Wikipedia.

Joseph Aaron Scharfenberg > beardsbynelly - Rikerbeard 11/10/2013 at 23:39

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I had the same thought.

Gray-Lensman > f86sabre 11/10/2013 at 23:43

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The problems, obviously, are mass and complexity. Simple parachutes and a splashdown were more effective and reliable.

As for Gemini being the most badass program of NASA, well, hell yes. The amazing amount of work and mission complexity boggles the mind. Amongst the achievements: the first orbital rendezvous (Gemini 6 and 7), first docking maneuver (Gemini 8), highest manned Earth orbit (Gemini 11, a record which still stands).

JimEmery > manifold engines 11/10/2013 at 23:55

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I think I might have had the same model, it was 1/48th (?) scale, a two-fer kit that included a mercury capsule also. The difference I recall was that the model depicted it as having skids, rather than wheels for the landing.

alexlam24 > rabbitman 11/11/2013 at 00:30

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Still not as fun as a Reliant Robin

2 Wheels awesome! > f86sabre 11/11/2013 at 00:42

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Awesome. I was just talking to a friend about the gluide return of the capsules earlier today... And then I find this.

Zeek Is A Geek > pdthedeuce 11/11/2013 at 00:58

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He was my grandfather's neighbor and I used to see him sunbathing and I met him once.

Kylemaro > f86sabre 11/11/2013 at 02:31

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The Navy

KirkyV > beardsbynelly - Rikerbeard 11/11/2013 at 03:33

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The sooner I find deployable wings of any kind for Kerbal Space Program, the happier I'll be. So many ideas!

cljohnston108 > f86sabre 11/11/2013 at 04:22

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Spaceflight historian Amy Shira Teitel covered this nicely...

Losing Rogallo from Gemini

Rogallo After Gemini

The Gemini Paraglider on SciAm's Space Lab

Another Use for Rogallo: Saturn Recovery

TheOnelectronic > Zeek Is A Geek 11/11/2013 at 05:08

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From this, I can only determine that you are, in fact, pdthedeuce's long-lost child.

ronmler > Orange_C 11/11/2013 at 07:35

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Gemini was never a moon vehicle, anyway.

f86sabre > cljohnston108 11/11/2013 at 08:19

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I think I now have a bit of reading to do. Neat site.

f86sabre > Kylemaro 11/11/2013 at 08:21

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Thunder > f86sabre 11/11/2013 at 08:23

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I did a (very) little hang-gliding in the outer banks of North Carolina.

The prep/classroom had a bunch of stuff about this program. It was quite interesting for this private pilot / not-a-hang-glider.

bariki > f86sabre 11/11/2013 at 09:01

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As cool as an inflatable glider is, proven, reliable technology should always be used when lives are at stake and you absolutely, positively can't afford to fail.

(For example, why do you think skydiver's backup chutes, and paratrooper main chutes are traditional non-steerable round parachutes?)

Quattroman > f86sabre 11/11/2013 at 09:33

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Gap tolerance....FTW!

vintagethunder > f86sabre 11/11/2013 at 09:41

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The smaller Revell Gemini model kit (1/48) had the option for skids for the Rigolo wing version. Didn't know there was hardware out there... Where is the place in the photos?

Turbineguy: Nom de Zoom > f86sabre 11/11/2013 at 10:03

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The bigger question is, do we need 11 of them?

#usafvet

PAron > manifold engines 11/11/2013 at 10:21

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really? would love to get my hands on that!

Sasquatch2 > f86sabre 11/11/2013 at 10:38

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these guys were all like "make a flying car that goes 1000 feet high so I can fly to work...? FUCK THAT, MINE GOES TO SPACE BRO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

f86sabre > vintagethunder 11/11/2013 at 10:58

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Smithsonian, I think. Probably the Hazey Center.

f86sabre > vintagethunder 11/11/2013 at 11:01

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Confirmed

http://blog.nasm.si.edu/highlights-fro…

manifold engines > JimEmery 11/11/2013 at 11:07

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Yeah, I remember the skids...

manifold engines > PAron 11/11/2013 at 11:12

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http://www.fantastic-plastic.com/GEMINI%20PARAG…

frankfan42x > f86sabre 11/11/2013 at 12:59

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This is from a time when Americans weren't afraid to DO things.

jerseygirlangie > The Transporter 11/11/2013 at 17:00

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Gemini is the classic middle child story - everyone remembers Mercury, and everyone remembers Apollo, but ask the average schoe on the street about Gemini, and you'll get a totally blank look.

And yet, Gemini did amazingly cool stuff, stuff that made the moon landing possible - and had potential to do much more ( even go to the moon ! ) , had the program not been cancelled to concentrate on Apollo.

Kylemaro > f86sabre 11/11/2013 at 17:55

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Yeah, figured these jalop writer guys woulda known that already.

beardsbynelly - Rikerbeard > KirkyV 11/11/2013 at 18:41

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I think the Damned Aerospace mod has swing wing, so that's a start.

I haven't ever got it running though, and have no idea if it's patched for 0.22

KirkyV > beardsbynelly - Rikerbeard 11/11/2013 at 18:44

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I tried Damned a (long) while back. From what I remember, the swing wing was really buggy, and had the structural integrity of a damp napkin. I could probably have rigged something up using Quantum Struts, but they themselves come with a whole new set of potential problems.

f86sabre > Kylemaro 11/11/2013 at 20:11

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Ah, I'm just an Oppo writer guy and can't be lumped with the illuminati of front page guys. That said, if I would have know it was going to the FP I would have probably picked a better title!

Kylemaro > f86sabre 11/11/2013 at 20:22

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I'm just messing with you, sarcasm i shard to convey on the internet through text.

Mark Out West > f86sabre 11/11/2013 at 23:09

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Forget the parawing. They shoulda done DynaSoar instead. Way cooler. That blithering idiot McNamara killed it.

Rassss > pdthedeuce 11/25/2013 at 17:20

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Thanks to Google, yes :)