Apollo spacecraft variant that lands like an X-15

In 1967 the North American Rockwell Corp. applied for an Apollo
variant patent that was granted in 1971. The patent drawings show an
Apollo CSM that has extendable wings and an X-15 like landing gear
with forward nose wheel and rear skids.

Go to the URL below and enter Patent Number 3,576,298.

http://patft.uspto.gov/netahtml/PTO/srchnum.htm

Click "SEARCH", then click "IMAGES" to view the full patent.

Here is the text of the patent abstract:

United States Patent 3,576,298
Barnett , et al. April 27, 1971

"AEROSPACE VEHICLE

Abstract

An aerospace vehicle is described comprising a substantially conical
forward crew compartment or command module mated to a substantially
cylindrical rearward service module. Aerodynamic fairings are provided
along the midline on the sides of the cylindrical portion and a
substantial distance aft thereof for providing lift at hypersonic
velocities and approximately vertical fins are provided on the
fairings for aerodynamic stability and control. Wings are mounted
within the aerodynamic fairings at high velocities and pivotably
extended therefrom at lower velocities and altitudes to provide low
speed lift. Upon reentry into the earth's atmosphere hypersonic lift
is provided by the body and the fairings for bringing the vehicle to
the area of a selected landing site and, at lower flight speeds deeper
into the atmosphere, augmented lift is provided by the extended wings
for landing the vehicle on a conventional runway. A rocket engine for
propulsion has a large expansion ratio bell for use in the vacuum of
space. The large ratio bell is jettisonable to give a low expansion
ratio for use of the same engine within the atmosphere. Rear landing
skids are pivotable into and out of the wake of the vehicle to reduce
the requirement for heat shielding. Similarly, reaction control rocket
motors are also pivotable into and out of the wake of the vehicle for
minimizing heat protection requirements. Such a vehicle is readily
adaptable to a broad variety of space missions such as cargo ferry or
satellite recovery, and is reuseable with minimum refurbishment."

Inventors: Barnett; Burton (Los Alamitos, CA), Raymes; Frederick
(Los Angeles, CA), Sackinger; Thomas A. (Hacienda Heights, CA)
Assignee: North American Rockwell Corporation
Appl. No.: 04/682,489
Filed: November 13, 1967



Rusty