In article , says...

So what about a capsule with inflatable wings like a hang glider. OK I have
seen pictures many years ago of tests of this idea and apparently, then it
was felt far too complex and error prone.

This sort of thing was investigated for Gemini (e.g. Rogallo paraglider
wing), but was never fully developed.

NASA's Amazing Gliding Gemini Capsules
http://tinyurl.com/njajkey

From above, the first two pilots who tried to land the TTV (Gemini Test
Tow Vehicle) landed in the hospital. The first pilot (Charles Hetzel)
had to eject and broke a rib. The second manned test landed so hard (30
feet per second) that it was considered a controlled crash and the pilot
(Don McCusker) was in the hospital from the shock of the landing. The
third piloted test (Jack Swigert) was successful, but came far too late
for the technology to be incorporated into the fast paced Gemini
program.

That test program wasn't terribly successful.

Jeff
--
"the perennial claim that hypersonic airbreathing propulsion would
magically make space launch cheaper is nonsense -- LOX is much cheaper
than advanced airbreathing engines, and so are the tanks to put it in
and the extra thrust to carry it." - Henry Spencer