Gemini TTV-2 boilerplate capsule for Rogallo inflatable wing flight tests
Posted by: csm014
N 55° 56.490 W 003° 11.270
30U E 488267 N 6199584
A boilerplate test capsule used to develop techniques for piloting a returning Gemini space capsule to a runway landing using an inflatable delta wing.
Waymark Code: WMEVQ7
Location: Southern Scotland, United Kingdom
Date Posted: 07/10/2012
Views: 9
The boilerplate Gemini capsule was built by North American Aviation in support of their contract to develop a technique for landing Gemini capsules on land. (McDonnell Aircraft Co., the prime contractor for Project Gemini, did not win this contract, and declined to provide a boilerplate capsule to their competitor for the testing.) In the end, the technique was perfected, but it took so long that by then NASA had already committed to splashdown landings for all Gemini (and subsequent Apollo) missions. One of the three test pilots was a young John L. "Jack" Swigert, who parlayed this experience into astronaut selection the following year, and who eventually flew on Apollo 13.
TTV-2 is on exhibit in the interactive Science and Technology Gallery along with James Watt's steam engine, a Black Knight rocket, and the stuffed remains of Dolly, the first cloned sheep.
See information on the National Museum of Scotland here: (
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