Parachutes Not Required
Sep 23, 2024
Gemini TTV-1 Paraglider Capsule
At the start of the Gemini program in 1961, NASA considered having the space capsule land on a runway after its return from orbit (rather than parachute into the ocean). The capsule’s controlled descent would be achieved by the deployment of an inflatable wing of the type invented by American aeronautical engineer Francis Rogallo and NASA’s Langley Research Center. Although never used to recover a crewed spacecraft, the system proved useful in developing alternate landing techniques—and the Rogallo wing was a precursor to the modern hang glider.
The full-scale, piloted Test Tow Vehicle (TTV) was built to test the Gemini paraglider wing in flight. It served as the first of two Test Tow Vehicles flown to perfect maneuvering, control, and landing techniques. In 1975, NASA transferred the TTV-1 to the National Air and Space Museum.
The paraglider wing would remain stowed until an altitude of around 50,000 feet—after the capsule had passed through the high-temperature reentry and slowed to subsonic speed.
The complete paraglider system weighed nearly 800 pounds more than a parachute system, prompting concerns among mission planners that it would place extra demands on Gemini’s payload budget.
The wing would be stored in a container on the forward end of the capsule prior to deployment.
During test flights, the TTV-1 was towed and released by a Sikorsky S-61 helicopter with its paraglider wing already deployed.
A U.S. Navy Sikorsky SH-3A Sea King (S-61), near Oahu, Hawaiian Islands in 1976.
The wing was attached with five cables: three in the pitch plane and two in the roll plane. By manipulating the cables, a pilot could alter the direction and angle of the capsule during descent.
The test vehicle had wheeled landing gear, but engineers planned for the operational capsule to use two high-drag rear landing skids and a single low-drag forward landing skid.
This article is from the Fall 2024 issue of Air & Space Quarterly, the National Air and Space Museum's signature magazine that explores topics in aviation and space, from the earliest moments of flight to today. Explore the full issue.
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