The Gemini Paraglider: A Failure of Scheduled Innovation,1961-64

The paraglider was conceived during the 1950s as a lightweight hybrid of parachute and inflated wing that might allow astronauts to pilot spacecraft to airfield landings. From 1961 to 1964, the US National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) sought to convert the idea into a practical landing system for the Gemini spacecraft. The spacecraft would carry the paraglider safely tucked away through most of a mission. Only after re-entering the atmosphere from orbit would the crew deploy the wing. Having now converted their spacecraft into a makeshift glider, they could fly to an airfield landing. How and why this ingenious scheme failed is the subject of this paper.