#rogallo wing

"The deployment of the Mercury paraglider proposed by North American after Phase I of the Paraglider Development Program."

"Space Task Group (STG) issued a Statement of Work for a Design Study of a Manned Spacecraft Paraglide Landing System. The purpose of the study was to define and evaluate problem areas and to establish the design parameters of a system to provide spacecraft maneuverability and controlled energy descent and landing by aerodynamic lift. McDonnell was already at work on a modified Mercury spacecraft; the proposed paraglide study was to be carried on concurrently to allow the paraglide landing system to be incorporated as an integral subsystem. STG Director Robert R. Gilruth requested that contracts for the design study be negotiated with three companies which already had experience with the paraglide concept: Goodyear Aircraft Corporation, Akron, Ohio; North American Aviation, Inc., Space and Information Systems Division, Downey, California; and Ryan Aeronautical Company, San Diego, California.

Wind tunnel model.

Each contract would be funded to a maximum of $100,000 for a study to be completed within two and one-half months from the date the contract was awarded. Gilruth expected one of these companies subsequently to be selected to develop and manufacture a paraglide system based on the approved design concept. In less than three weeks, contracts had been awarded to all three companies. Before the end of June, the design study formally became Phase I of the Paraglider Development Program."

Date: May 17, 1961

North American Aviation, Inc., Space and Information Systems Division, "Paraglider Development Program, Phase I: Final Report," SID 61-226, Aug. 15, 1961, p. 18. Link

1961 - At the start of the Gemini program, it was considered to have the two-man capsule land on a runway, instead of the usual spashdown in the ocean. As proposed, a Rogallo wing would deploy after the capsule entered the atmosphere, allowing the capsule to safely land on wheels or skis in a controlled descent.

The Gemini Test Tow Vehicle (TTV)-1 Paraglider was a manned-test article, dropped from a helicopter at Edwards Air Force Base, used to test the controlled landing concept. The design was dropped in favor of the more traditional parachute landings, but offers an interesting insight into what could have been.

"Gemini spacecraft landing gear for land landing with the paraglider."

"Manned Spacecraft Center directed North American to design and develop an emergency parachute recovery system for both the half-scale and full-scale flight test vehicles required by Phase II-A of the Paraglider Development Program and authorized North American to subcontract the emergency recovery system to Northrop Corporation's Radioplane Division, Van Nuys, California. North American awarded the $225,000 subcontract to Radioplane on March 16. This was one of two major subcontracts led by North American for Phase II-A. The other, for $227,000, went to Goodyear to study materials and test fabrics for inflatable structures."

Date March 8, 1962

Message, Bailey to NAA-SID, Mar. 8, 1962; memo, Robert L Kline to H L Watkins, Subj: Renegotiation Board Information for Contract NAS 9-167, Aug. 17, 1963; Change Notice No. 1, NAS 0-167, Mar. 8, 1962; NAA letter 62MA3530, Subj: Contract NAS 9-167, Paraglider Development Program, Phase II-A, Monthly Progress Letter No. 4, Mar. 29, 1962. link

"The proposed sequence of events in deploying the paraglider to land the Gemini spacecraft."

"Manned Spacecraft Center concurred in McDonnell's proposed sequencing of the paraglider recovery system. In a normal mission, the drogue parachute (a small parachute to pull the recovery compartment away from the spacecraft and strip the paraglider from the recovery compartment) would deploy at 60,000 feet, followed by the release of the rendezvous and recovery section at 50,000 feet. Starting at 10,000 feet, all reaction control system propellant remaining after the paraglider had been deployed would be dumped. The paraglider wing itself would be jettisoned shortly after touchdown. At this point, plans called for the paraglider to be used on all Gemini missions except the first."

Date: May 23-24, 1962

NASA ID: link, link

Early on in development, engineers studied the feasible of equipping the Apollo Command Module with a Parawing to facilitate landing on dry land.

"The internal subsystems required for the parawing recovery system include a flight control system, a wing pressurization system, a cable control system, and the necessary sensing and actuation systems. Manual overrides are provided for drogue chute deployment, wing extraction, wing inflation, and cable payouts. Panel lights will indicate the sequence and status of all events.

The requirement for an emergency landing provision under all conceivable modes of failure is best fulfilled by ejection seats and personnel parachutes, primarily because of their relatively light weight, dependability, and advanced state of development. During launch and early-boost aborts when the capsule does not reach an altitude above 10,000 feet, escape will be by means of the ejection seats. Above that altitude, a normal wing deployment may be executed. During entry, escape ejection would occur below an altitude of 20,000 fect. Provisions are made to jertison an uninflated or otherwise faulty wing. Following this, the escape hatch is blown and personnel are ejected in a timed sequence.

PERFORMANCE Recovery of the Apollo spacecraft during entry is normally initiated at an altitude of 80,000 feet and a velocity of Mach 1.1 by the deployment of a 14-foor drogue chute which provides an added margin of stability and decelerates the spacecraft to an equilibrium descent rate of 115 knots indicated air speed.

Different types of proposed landing gear

At 40,000 feet, the drogue chute extracts the wing from its stowage compartment and the wing is deployed as depicted in Figure 65. By controlling the rigging, the partial lift thus developed (along with the unbuckling action of the inflated booms and keel) results in a smooth and reliable transition to gliding flight when the apex is released. Deployment requires approximately 20 seconds, with equilibrium glide achieved at an altitude of 36,000 feet."

Ultimately, just like the Rogallo wing for the Gemini capsule, this feature was cancelled due to time and money limitations.

SDASM Archives: Apollo Doc018

source, source

A Gemini capsule model with paraglider skids.

Date: 1962

"After completing a resupply mission to the orbiting lab, a Gemini ferry will return to land on earth using the huge, arrow-shaped plastic Rogallo wing. As shown in this sketch, after the capsule first touches down, the cables holding the wing onto the spacecraft are released so the wing doesn't interfere with the landing."

"Orbiting Stations: Stopovers to Space Travel" by Irwin Stambler, G.P. Putnam's Sons, 1965

Posted on Flickr by Numbers Station: link

"American manned spacecraft. The paraglider was supposed to be used in the original Gemini program but delays in getting the wing to deploy reliably resulted in it not being flown.

"Orbiting Stations: Stopovers to Space Travel" by Irwin Stambler, G.P. Putnam's Sons, 1965

Status: Flown 1963. Thrust: 706 N (158 lbf). Gross mass: 3,800 kg (8,300 lb). Unfuelled mass: 3,345 kg (7,374 lb). Specific impulse: 273 s. Height: 5.67 m (18.60 ft).

McDonnell proposed that additional Gemini missions be flown to fully test the paraglider, which was planned for the follow-on Big Gemini.

Crew Size: 2. Habitable Volume: 2.55 m3. RCS total impulse: 1,170 kgf-sec. Spacecraft delta v: 323 m/s (1,059 ft/sec). Electric System: 151.00 kWh. Electric System: 2.16 average kW."

-Information from astronautix.com: link

Posted on Flickr by Numbers Station: link

NASA ID : S62-79867, S62-79867

source, source