Martin Project 7969

American manned spacecraft. Study 1958. Martin's proposal for the Air Force manned space project was a zero-lift vehicle launched by a Titan I with controlled flight in orbit. The spacecraft would be boosted into a 240 km orbit for a 24 hour mission.

Tracking would use the Minitrack System and deorbit would be accomplished by a retrorocket producing a 150 m/sec delta-v. Spacecraft attitude control was by rocket thrusters. The spacecraft was fully automatic and the pilot was only a passenger. Maximum G-forces during re-entry were 8-15 g's and an ablative heat shield was proposed. In case of booster failure during ascent to orbit the capsule would be ejected. The spacecraft had a ballistic coefficient (m/CdA) of 500 kg per square meter. Landing precision was within a 160 x 160 km footprint. It was expected that a first manned orbital flight could be achieved 30 months after a go-ahead.