Why didn't Gemini have an escape tower?

[bigdad84]

Simply as the title says...

[Nibb31]

Because it had ejection seats.

[bigdad84]

Because it had ejection seats.

Soooo, they were gonna eject astronauts going at the speed of sound if something were to happen?

[brooklyn666]

Gemini used ejection seats. The ejection seats would only be used up to the point where it would be safe for the astronauts. Beyond that, the capsule would separate from the booster on it's own in case of an abort.

Edited January 12, 2014 by brooklyn666
ninja'd

[Ralathon]

Soooo, they were gonna eject astronauts going at the speed of sound if something were to happen?

Yep, they did loads of tests on those chairs as well. Put them on rocket sleds and everything to test if they could outrun the massive fireball.

[Ralathon]

Nope! The escape tower, also called Launch Escape System, has nothing to do with ejection seats. Instead it was designed to carry the entire capsule away from the rocket.

Once clear of the rocket and out of danger the crew could either eject or use the capsule parachutes.

Yea, the entire question of this thread was why Gemini didn't have one.

Mercury had a LES.

Apollo had a LES.

Sojuz has a LES.

Orion has a LES.

Gemini had no LES, it had ejection seats.

[Tex_NL]

Yea, the entire question of this thread was why Gemini didn't have one.

Mercury had a LES.

Apollo had a LES.

Sojuz has a LES.

Orion has a LES.

Gemini had no LES, it had ejection seats.

It looks like I saw that error a minute too late. I misread a few things but was not able to delete my reply before you quoted it.

[Nibb31]

Some of the design decisions on Gemini were because the astronauts wanted it to be more like a plane cockpit than a capsule. It was nicknamed the Gusmobile by the astronauts, because Gus Grissom played a major role in its design.

These pionneer astronauts were experienced test pilots, and they wanted to "fly" their rockets, not just be passengers like the chimps in the Mercury program. As pilots, they despised Mercury, in which they felt that they were lab rats rather than pilots, so they put pressure on NASA to design Gemini to be more like a fighter jet, hence the individual gullwing doors, the forward facing windows, the ejection seats, and the (abandoned) horizontal landing on skids with an inflatable delta wing.

[miracmert]

Some of the design decisions on Gemini were because the astronauts wanted it to be more like a plane cockpit than a capsule. It was nicknamed the Gusmobile by the astronauts, because Gus Grissom played a major role in its design.

These pionneer astronauts were experienced test pilots, and they wanted to "fly" their rockets, not just be passengers like the chimps in the Mercury program. As pilots, they despised Mercury, in which they felt that they were lab rats rather than pilots, so they put pressure on NASA to design Gemini to be more like a fighter jet, hence the individual gullwing doors, the forward facing windows, the ejection seats, and the (abandoned) horizontal landing on skids with an inflatable delta wing.

That's a valuable information I just learnt Thank you!

[bigdad84]

the (abandoned) horizontal landing on skids with an inflatable delta wing.

Horizontal landings? With a Gemini capsule?

EDIT: did a little searching around, I guess Gemini had more up its sleeve than I ever thought.

Edited January 12, 2014 by bigdad84

[G'th]

Oh wow, that looks just wee bit like the Mk 1 pod.

[Nibb31]

Horizontal landings? With a Gemini capsule?

EDIT: did a little searching around, I guess Gemini had more up its sleeve than I ever thought.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/36/Gemini_paraglider.JPG

Yes, that's what I was talking about. The paraglider was supposed to fly on Gemini 6 or 7, but it got pushed back and eventually cancelled. If USAF had pursued Gemini B with higher flight rates, it might have been put back on the table.

There were tow tests with a wheeled mockup (the real thing would have used skids) but they never got to testing actual deployment and inflation. It's not clear whether it would have worked reliably enough to risk the astronauts lives with it. It would have weighed much more than a simple parachute too. In the end, like the gullwing doors, the only advantage of the paraglider was that it flattered the astronauts' egos.

[Thiel]

Yes, that's what I was talking about. The paraglider was supposed to fly on Gemini 6 or 7, but it got pushed back and eventually cancelled. If USAF had pursued Gemini B with higher flight rates, it might have been put back on the table.

There were tow tests with a wheeled mockup (the real thing would have used skids) but they never got to testing actual deployment and inflation. It's not clear whether it would have worked reliably enough to risk the astronauts lives with it. It would have weighed much more than a simple parachute too. In the end, like the gullwing doors, the only advantage of the paraglider was that it flattered the astronauts' egos.

It did have one tangible benefit since it didn't have to do water landings.

[CaptRobau]

The planned Big Gemini, an extended Gemini spacecraft used for ferrying crew to space stations, would've had a traditional LES because the extra engines needed to lift it would've made the ejection seats useless.

[Nibb31]

It did have one tangible benefit since it didn't have to do water landings.

True, but they could have used airbags or retro-rockets to land on solid ground.

The planned Big Gemini, an extended Gemini spacecraft used for ferrying crew to space stations, would've had a traditional LES because the extra engines needed to lift it would've made the ejection seats useless.

But mainly because the seat arrangements for 8 astronauts on two decks would have made them impractical and heavier than a LES tower.

[zavdan62]

yup it works more or less with plane now it is on rockets!

[Thiel]

True, but they could have used airbags or retro-rockets to land on solid ground.

True, but the kite would have made it possible to land on a specific runway which would have massively reduced the logistics involved in a recovery.

[TechnicalK3rbal]

Ejection seats.

On supersonic semi-controlled fireballs.

MOST JEB-ISH THING EVER!

[Seret]

Ejection seats.

On supersonic semi-controlled fireballs.

MOST JEB-ISH THING EVER!

Pretty handy for getting away if it goes bang on the pad though. Everything going wrong on engine start is one of the reasons ejection seats are fitted to aircraft, too.

[Motokid600]

All the instances where a LES was actually activated were on launch pads, no?

[MaverickSawyer]

Well, part of the reasoning behind the ejection seats is because the fuels used by the Titan II, though hypergolic, were not violently explosive like LOX/RP-1 or LOX/LH2.

Big Gemini needed a LES because:

-It was intended to be used on more than one launch vehicle family (Saturn and Titan)

-Some of the launch vehicles it was intended for would be using solid rocket motors for boosters (Titan III), and, although they could blow out panels along the SRMs to significantly reduce the thrust, they would still need to get away ASAP.

-As others have said, it was too heavy to incorporate ejection seats for the entire crew, which was as high as 12 in some designs.

[Drunken Hobo]

Oh wow' date=' that looks just wee bit like the Mk 1 pod.[/quote']

Squad should sue over copyright!

[Specialist290]

All the instances where a LES was actually activated were on launch pads, no?

Actually, no. A few of the "Little Joe" tests for Apollo involved in-flight LES separation, including one where the rocket spontaneously disassembled (obviously not in the flight plan) but the LES did its job anyway.

The only instance of a manned flight requiring an LES activation to abort an actual mission, however, was indeed off the launchpad.

[KASASpace]

Yea, the entire question of this thread was why Gemini didn't have one.

Mercury had a LES.

Apollo had a LES.

Sojuz has a LES.

Orion has a LES.

Gemini had no LES, it had ejection seats.

Sorry, but I have to do this:

Space shuttle had ejection seats. THEN NOTHING.

And btw, gemini had the retro rockets to escape with, underneath the capsule.

[Moon Goddess]

And DragonRider is back to the Gemini method of using it's own thrusters for escape.