1988 – P.O.W.E.R. Arm – University of Alabama / Wyle Laboratories (American)

The Flexible Robot Arm P.O.W.E.R. Introduction The Personal Occupied Woven Envelope Robot (P.O.W.E.R.) project is a joint effort of the University of Alabama in Huntsville (UAH) and Wyle Laboratories. This work is being performed under the Innovative Research Program for NASA. POWER is a flexible robot arm. It will be used as an "extension" of …

1972 – Free Flyer with Manipulator Arms – Bell / Rancho Los Amigos (American)

Spacemen Get Long Reach with Remote-Control Aids By WERNHER von BRAUN PS Consulting editor, Space Sophisticated puppets called "teleoperators" can relieve our astronauts of many difficult or dangerous tasks performed in orbit When one of our coming Space Shuttles repairs a satellite in orbit, or retrieves it for return to Earth, it's likely the job …

1962 – Nonanthropomorphic Space Suit (Concept) – Douglas Aircraft Corp (American)

For Douglas Aircraft, in 1962,  their earlier space manipulator designs, i.e., the Project Mercury converted capsule and the "Humpty Dumpty" unit, can be considered as first-generation, feasible, nonanthropomorphic devices. A much more speculative concept, but in every sense within our technological reach, is shown in figure 3 above. This is basically a space tug and …

1967 – Space Work Platform – Bendix Company (American)

SPACE WORK PLATFORM  A self-propelled space work platform for astronauts based aboard a "mother spaceship" has been designed by the Bendix Corporation's Missile Systems division in Mishawaka, Ind.  A full-scale mock-up of the space vehicle, prepared under a $40.000 contract from the Applied Physics Laboratory of Johns Hopkins University, which was responsible for the basic …

1961 – Humpty Dumpty Space Capsule – Douglas Aircraft Company (American)

SANTA MONICA DIVISION DOUGLAS AIRCRAFT COMPANY, INC. SANTA MONICA, CALIFORNIA NONANTHROPOMORPHIC SPACE SUIT The "Humpty-Dumpty, " a nonanthropomorphic space suit (capsule), consists of an egg-shaped cylinder capable of supporting at least one man who is engaged in assembly, maintenance, or similar-type tasks in outer space (see figure 1). The capsule itself contains an ecological system …