Image credit: Mark Avino
Image source: National Air & Space Museum
Grumman/Boeing
Tag: NASM
2-Stage Flyback Booster Concept
Image credit: Mark Avino
Image source: National Air & Space Museum
0025-bx092-fd004_010
Artists’ concepts (Spacecraft) [1 of 6 folders]
Image credit: Krafft Ehricke Papers
Image source: NASM
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Artists’ concepts (Spacecraft) [1 of 6 folders]
Image credit: Krafft Ehricke Papers
Image source: NASM
0025-bx092-fd004_019
Artists’ concepts (Spacecraft) [1 of 6 folders]
Image credit: Krafft Ehricke Papers
Image source: NASM
0025-bx092-fd004_036
Artists’ concepts (Spacecraft) [1 of 6 folders]
Image credit: Krafft Ehricke Papers
Image source: NASM
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Artists’ concepts (Spacecraft) [1 of 6 folders]
Image credit: Krafft Ehricke Papers
Image source: NASM
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Artists’ concepts (Spacecraft) [1 of 6 folders]
Image credit: Krafft Ehricke Papers
Image source: NASM
Spacemaster Two-Stage Concept
NASA studied this Martin Marietta concept for a fully reusable space transportation system during the Shuttle research effort in 1969-1972. It featured two piloted fly-back vehicles – a twin-fuselage booster craft and a delta-wing orbiter – in a two-stage configuration. The liquid-propellant booster would carry the orbiter to a set altitude, then detach and be piloted back to land. After separation the orbiter would ignite its own engines to reach orbit. Both vehicles had retractable air-breathing jet engines for powered airplane-like flight during descent to landing. NASA transferred a variety of concept models to the Museum after settling on the final Space Shuttle design.
Image credit: NASM
Image source: NASM
Mobile Lunar Industrial Vehicle
EMPIRE Hunting: Part 3
Let’s go back to Solar Transportation for a minute, because it helps to explain some of the images in the Ehricke Papers. Ehricke’s team detailed a Mars lander that looked a lot like early Apollo concepts, but the some of the folders contain images of a landing using what looks like Gemini hardware. I think this image captioned in Solar Transportation is a clue.
From Solar Transportation:
In 1982, a 69 day Mars capture mission launches. The crew conducts intensive reconnaissance both from orbit, and using probes – including landers and returners – but no manned surface excursions are planned. A mission launched between 1984 is one-way, involving a 529 day stay on Mars. A follow-on mission in 1985 (via Venus) retrieves the crew.
Reading back through the General Dynamics and Douglas UMPIRE reports, I think there’s enough connective tissue to make the argument that the paintings below are at least vicinal to EMPIRE / UMPIRE if not directly related, like kissing cousins. It doesn’t really matter though, because I’m not a real historian, and this isn’t a thesis.
Above: Gemini, on Mars or wherever. Below: Yup, that’s a Mars Lander.
Artists’ concepts (Spacecraft) [1 of 6 folders]
Artists’ concepts (spacecraft) [4 of 6 folders]
Image credit: Krafft Ehricke Papers
Image source: NASM
Colour Study (Artist Unknown)
Image credit: Krafft Ehricke Papers / North American Aviation
Image source: NASM
