In article ,
om@our_blessed_lady_mary_of_the_holy... _facility.org says...

snip

...And then there's this one:

http://history.nasa.gov/SP-4002/images/fig5.jpg

...And was this how the parasail was intended to work on Gemini as
well?

From what I can tell, looking at the illustration, that is supposed to
be a Gemini. (See the indentation for the hatch window in the illo?) I
don't ever recall Gemini planning on using the heatshield as a skid,
though -- they were always going to have two body skids and one nose
skid, whent hey were planning for the Gemini paraglider landings.

...Of course, if the guys at Mattel had our resources and/or had been
thinking clearly, Major Matt Mason would have had one of these:

http://history.nasa.gov/SP-4002/images/fig8.jpg

...With a missile launcher on the top, too!

That would have been keen! I always liked that LM proposal -- IIRC, it
was proposed as a lunar lander for a Mercury-based manned landing
proposal. You would use a Saturn 1B to launch the Mercury capsule and
the attached lander on a trans-lunar trajectory, with an Agena attached
to the whole thing to act as an LOI/TEI stage. The lone occupant of the
Mercury capsule would EVA into the lander, separate, land, get out, walk
around, pick up a pound or two of rocks, take off again, rendezvous with
his Mercury capsule, and climb back in -- all without ever taking off
his suit. Or having a pressurized cabin available.

Spending that much time in a hard suit, especially a Mercury-style suit,
would have gotten really uncomfortable, I bet...

Doug