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Gemini Ferry

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Gemini Ferry Drawing of Gemini Ferry in flight. Credit: McDonnell-Douglas

Status: Study 1963. Payload: 9,090 kg (20,040 lb). Gross mass: 15,590 kg (34,370 lb). Height: 8.30 m (27.20 ft).

A MOL-type hatch in the heat shield would allow the crew to enter the space station through an Apollo-type probe and drogue hatch at the base of the spacecraft - a design very like the Soviet TKS. Much shorter than the MOL, the cargo module could be left attached to the station and the reentry vehicle return to earth on its own.

In 1962 NASA funded studies with several contractors on Operations and Logistics for Space Stations. McDonnell's study was dated 20 March 1963 and proposed three alternatives, all of which could be boosted by either a Titan 3M or Saturn IB Launch Vehicle, and all of which would be equipped with aft-mounted docking systems:

• Two-crew Gemini, relatively unmodified, with a cargo module
• Modified Gemini with a stretched re-entry vehicle (later fully developed into the Big-Gemini)
• New winged spaceplane, capable of accommodating two crew plus four passengers

Crew Size: 2. Habitable Volume: 2.55 m3.