Tag: lander

Convair Lunar Lander

14_001337_3

Image credit: Convair
Image source: SDASM Archives

255-GRC-1980-01115

17476586

Image credit: NASA GRC
Image source: National Archives

Mars Excursion Module

source

Our World in Space
Robert McCall & Isaac Asimov
New York Graphic Society, 1974

Image credit: Robert McCall
Image source: Numbers Station

Assembly of The Moonships

source

Weightless in orbit 1,075 miles above earth, workers in space assemble three moon ships. Hawaiian Islands lie below. Winged transports unload near wheel-shaped space station top left. Engineers and equipment cluster around cargo ship lower left, passenger ship center and right.

Man on the Moon
Collier’s, October 18,1952

Image credit: Colliers
Image source: AIAA Houston

620 Miles Above Mars

source
  1. Near wheel-shaped space station 1,000 miles from the earth, built especially for assembly of the Mars expedition, weightless workers put together 10 rocket ships required for the flight. Three of the huge space craft have torpedo noses which convert to planes for landing on the planet.
  2. The first landing party takes off for Mars. Two other landing planes will wait until runway is prepared for them, and then the remaining seven ships will stay in 600-mile orbit. Arms on cargo ships hold screenlike dish antennas (for communication), trough-shaped solar mirrors (for power).

Is there Life on Mars?
Collier’s, April 30, 1954

Image credit: Collier’s
Image source: AIAA Houston

Return Flight

source

After 15 month exploration, the Mars expedition prepares for return flight to earth. Two landing planes are set on tails, with wings and landing gear removed. They will rocket back to the 600-mile orbit on first leg of journey.

Is there Life on Mars?
Collier’s, April 30, 1954

Image credit: Collier’s
Image source: AIAA Houston

S-83-28321

S-83-28321

S83-28321 (14 March 1983) — In this artist’s concept of future lunar operations, a lunar ferry is about to burn out of lunar orbit for the trip back to facilities in low Earth orbit. The ferry vehicle carries tank modules filled with liquid oxygen, which has been produced from mining operations on the surface of the Moon. One possibility for such operations would be to have manned facilities in low lunar orbit, such as illustrated here. At the upper right side of the photo is a small orbiting manned station. At the lower right side of the photo is a liquid oxygen propellant dump, to which a lunar landing vehicle carrying liquid oxygen is about to dock. The lunar ferry vehicle itself is representative of one type of aerobraking system. The balloon-like torus around the center of the ferry-craft would inflate to several times its illustrated size and, once the vehicle has swooped down close to the Earth’s outer atmosphere on the return journey, would use atmospheric drag to slow the craft and place itself in low Earth orbit. The liquid oxygen would then be used in operations there for fueling various vehicles, including an orbital transfer vehicle for trips to geosynchronous Earth orbit. This concept is part of a study done for the Johnson Space Center by Eagle Engineering of Houston. The artist was Pat Rawlings.

Image credit: Eagle Engineering
Image source: Internet Archive