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Tag Archives: Landing Systems
The Gemini Paraglider on SciAm’s Space Lab
Most regular readers of Vintage Space will know that I’m obsessed with the Gemini Paraglider, the landing system that should have made splashdowns obsolete starting in the early 1960s but (to make a long story short) just couldn’t keep pace … Continue reading
Posted in Gemini, History of Space Science, Manned Spaceflight, Mercury
Tagged Gemini, Landing Systems, Landings, Paraglider, Rogallo
4 Comments
Reducing, Recycling, and Reusing on Mars
Two weeks ago, NASA announced it’s next Discovery class mission, those low cost missions that focus on answering one question. The agency chose the InSight mission to Mars. In the press conference, the agency cited the mission’s low cost and … Continue reading
Posted in Planetary Science, Unmanned Spaceflight
Tagged InSight, Landers, Landing Systems, Mars, NASA, Phoenix, Polar, Viking
1 Comment
Learning to Land on the Moon
Bringing anything airborne down for a safe landing takes considerable skill, but landing on other planets presents a whole world of new challenges. In preparation for the Apollo lunar missions, astronauts spent considerable time in simulators learning to land on … Continue reading
Posted in Apollo, History of Space Science, Manned Spaceflight, Moon
Tagged Apollo, Armstrong, Landing Systems, Manned Spaceflight, Moon, NASA, Spaceflight
6 Comments
Gearing Up for the Sky Crane
This Sunday night around 10:31 PST, the Mars Science Laboratory Sky Crane will deliver the rover Curiosity to the surface of Mars. It will land inside the geologically interesting Gale Crater, to be exact. Even among planetary landings it’s an … Continue reading
Mercury’s Staggering Recovery Crews
Splashdown landings, those iconic ends to Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo missions, weren’t as simple as they seemed. While dropping a capsule into the ocean was a simple way to land, pulling the capsule and its crew out of the water … Continue reading
Posted in Apollo, Gemini, History of Space Science, Manned Spaceflight, Mercury
Tagged Apollo, Gemini, Landing Systems, Manned Spaceflight, Mercury Program, NASA, US Navy
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The X-15′s First Glide
It was a chilly morning on June 8, 1959 when Scott Crossfield climbed into the cockpit of the X-15 rocket aircraft. By 8:30, he was airborne, and the aircraft was nestled under the wing of the larger B-52 launch plane. … Continue reading
Posted in Aircraft, History of Space Science, Manned Spaceflight
Tagged Crossfield, Landing Systems, Launch Vehicles, NAA, NACA, X-15
4 Comments
Can Russia Save ExoMars?
The latest budget for NASA for FY 2013 sees the agency’s Mars exploration program taking a huge hit – it will get $318 million less than FY 2012. This funding cut has forced NASA to withdraw from the ExoMars, the … Continue reading
Posted in Planetary Science, Unmanned Spaceflight
Tagged ESA, Landing Systems, Mars, NASA, Roscosmos, Russia
2 Comments