1959-61 – Concept O-9 Manned Utility Tug – (American)

Concept O-9: Rendezvous by Manned Utility Tug From a report compiled between 1959-61 and presented in 1961 are various concepts {Suffixed by 'O' for Orbital Rendezvous). This extract only selects those concepts that have a manipulator component. WADD TECHNICAL REPORT 60-857 LAUNCHING AND ALIGHTMENT SYSTEMS FOR AERO-SPACE VEHICLES Nelson T. Levings, Jr. Cleveland Pneumatic Industries, …

1965 – Manned Space Pod with Manipulators (Concept) – Boeing (American)

Found in the old Boeing Historical archive some years back was a piece of artwork dated 20 Dec 1965 illustrating a “work pod” for orbital use. Space Pod sourced from here. Compare with later 1976 Boeing Space Tug concept here. See other early Space Teleoperators here. See other early Lunar and Space Robots here.  

1960 – “REMORA” Manned Space Manipulator – Bell Aerosystems (American)

Preliminary Design Concepts •    Bell Aerosystems Remora Capsule The REMORA configuration (Figure 5-15) is a small, buoy-shaped capsule 6-feet high, 3-feet in diameter, and weighing 540 pounds (leaded). This concept, proposed shout 1960, permits one astronaut to function in space while protected from the space environment. The capsule is tethered by a cable that provides …

1923 – Walking Lunar Rover (Science Fiction) – Homer Eon Flint (American)

The vehicle in the book is described as being bee-like; when not flying, then walking. During the 1920s and 1930s, the lunar rovers of science fiction were sometimes more humorous than scientific. Homer Eon Flint, in 1923, proposed in his novel "Out of the Moon"  what might be termed an ornithomorphic design.  It resembled a …

1960 – “Homobile” Lunar Rover – Hugo Gernsback (American)

In 1960, the indefatigable Gernsback came out with another lunar rover design. He called it the “Homobile.” It had a pressurized cabin mounted on tracks and powered by electricity from fuel cells, with a leg-powered generator as an alternate source of energy. The cabin also had a pair of manipulator arms. Source:Originally from “1961 Forecast”, …