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 …

1960 – Space Manipulators – General Mills (American)

Donald F. Melton MECHANICAL DIVISION GENERAL MILLS. INC MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA INTRODUCTION Remote-handling systems can be defined as combinations of equipment the primary purpose of which is to move items relative to each other in a controlled environment. The system is includes not only the actuators and structures required for the physical tasks to be performed, …

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 …

1925 – Teledactyl Remote Manipulator – Hugo Gernsback (German/American)

I'm having difficulty in obtaining a copy of this magazine, so I have used the original article and illustrations from Matt Novak's wonderful Paleofuture/Smithsonian article here. Hugo Gernsback’s device was called the "radio teledactyl” and would allow doctors to not only see their patients through a viewscreen, but also touch them from miles away with spindly …