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 …

1965-8 – Space Pod – 2001: A Space Odyssey – Clarke (British) / Kubrick (American)

EVA Pod – The EVA Pod is a fictional spacecraft used for extra-vehicular activity seen in the movie 2001: A Space Odyssey. The Jupiter spacecraft Discovery One carries three of these small, one-man maintenance vehicles. [EVA – Extra-Vehicular Activity i.e. activity outside of the prime space vehicle.] Film stage. Detail of manipulator arms. Illustrations by …

1971-2 – Apollo-Soyuz Shuttle Manipulator – Caldwell Johnson (American)

Apollo-Soyuz Shuttle Manipulator Demo (1971-1972) –   By David S. F. Portree  ,    05.14.2012 During the 1983 STS-7 mission, the crew of  Shuttle Challenger used the Remote Manipulator System arm to deploy and retrieve the SPAS satellite, which captured this iconic image. The arm, bent to form the numeral “7,” is visible near the front …

1961 – Space Maintenance Capsule and Adapter – NORAIR (American)

NORTHROP CORPORATION NORAIR DIVISION HAWTHORNE, CALIFORNIA INTRODUCTION Participation in various system studies concerned with space and extraterrestrial environments has developed within Northrop Corporation, Norair Division, an acute awareness of the requirements for extra-vehicular protection of personnel in these unfriendly environments. This awareness has led to classification of work environments, anticipated tasks, and consideration of remote-handling …

1961 – Manned Space Manipulators – Lockheed Aircraft Corporation (American)

LOCKHEED AIRCRAFT CORPORATION LOCKHEED-GEORGIA COMPANY MARIETTA, GEORGIA INTRODUCTION The first manipulative tasks required of man in a space operation will be those associated with establishing a station in orbit or with operating a manned vehicle or station in orbit. Practical environmental control systems required for human survival will probably result in performance degradation at best …