according to the excellent Encyclopedia Astronautica website:
The ejection seats served as the crew escape method in the lower atmosphere, just as in a high-performance aircraft. The seats were also needed for the original landing mode, which involved deployment of a huge inflated Rogallo wing (ancestor of today's hang gliders) with a piloted landing on skids at Edwards Dry Lake. In the event, the wing could not be made to deploy reliably before flights began, so the capsule made a parachute-borne water landing, much to the astronauts' chagrin.
It sure would've been cool, though. I remember building a Gemini capsule model when I was a kid. It had the landing skids on it for use by the Rogallo wing. Today, they would use the parafoil like that on the X-38/CRV. They've proven pretty reliable and probably have a better glide ratio than a Rogallo wing.
Space/Science » in reply to A look back to March 1964 and the Apollo planning
The reason is pretty simple...
The whole thread (27 posts)
- The hoped Moon
- Are these some of Tom's designs? (n/t)
- the Moon is NOT like Mars...
- Why do space suits need to be built with 2 legs and 2 arms?
- A look back to March 1964 and the Apollo planning