On display at the USAF Museum in Dayton Ohio is the Marquardt “Space Sled.” Sadly, little information seems to be available about it. The exac year seems to be unknown (mid 1960’s), and I’m uncertain if the unit on display was meant to actually go into space, or it it was meant to be used on air bearings, or just what the deal was. The seat, for example, does not look like it’s made out of the optimal materials for use in the bright sunshine and hard vacuum of space. Nor does it seem designed to accomodate a spacesuit with backpack. I’m also fuzzy on just where all the thrusters are.
Still, it looks like a reasonable concept. Presumably that’s a high pressure gas tank up front, and control was via simple cold-gas jets. I’m unsure that it would have any advantages over the more common backpack-style Manned Maneuvering Unit. But modernize it with new materials and uprate the propulsion system (monoprop or even biprop), and you’ll have a *real* space motorcycle.
My guess is that it may have been part of the MOL project.
7 Responses to “Marquardt “Space Sled””
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my gess this one is tested in side of USAF “Vomit Comet” aircraft during 25 sec zero G
just proof of concept, wat explane the Seat and material use
Here’s a bit more info on it:
http://www.astronautix.com/craft/spaesled.htm
I’m concerned about the gadget that appears to be aimed at the operator’s solar plexus (or worse). A reminder to always wear one’s seat belt? Otherwise it seems superkewl — but I’d say that: I ride a motorscooter.
Hopefully, you’d never get up enough speed to worry about the dire effects of a front-end collision, but yeah, that thing looks like it’s going to go straight into your navel.
You can see the problem with this concept – the astronaut would have to fly to the thing to be worked on, dismount from the sled, work on it, and then get on the sled for the flight back.
The backpack maneuvering unit meant you could just keep wearing it while you worked.
I’m sorry, but that thing just seems like a ridiculous design. The backward-leaning seat? The freakin’ steering column? The difficulty that the the user would have had in reading the gauges or using the control lever on the panel? The fact that it would have been virtually impossible for an astronaut to mount or dismount without accidentally kicking the damned thing away?
It does look kinda like a go-kart, though. I’ll give ’em that.
All it needs is a pair of ape-hangers.
The first picture scared me for a moment. I briefly thought that the tiny yellow patch on the cylinder between the astronaut’s knees was a radiation trefoil.