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IT鈥橲 all very well getting people into space 鈥� but how do you get them back again? That question was engrossing New Scientist on 1 May 1969, less than three months before the first crewed moon landing. 鈥淭he now familiar last scenes of a US manned space flight, with its full cast of warships, helicopters, frogmen, etc, has proved both safe and spectacular,鈥� we wrote, 鈥渂ut more convenient and controllable return routes for astronauts are under study.鈥�
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In particular, design studies had been prepared by NASA and the engineering company North American Rockwell for 鈥渢wo reusable spacecraft which could sprout rotors at the crucial moment during re-entry鈥�. After initial slowing by atmospheric friction, helicopter blades would fold out of the spacecraft鈥檚 body, enabling the pilot to 鈥渂ring it down like a sycamore seed鈥�.
The spies were also interested. 鈥淭he craft would be able to pursue an erratic orbit above the atmosphere, frustrating the counter-intelligence of other nations, and secure in the knowledge that any number of eventual landing sites could be chosen,鈥� the article went on to say.
But the concept doesn鈥檛 seem to have passed practical muster. When reusable spacecraft became a reality with the inception of NASA鈥檚 shuttle programme in 1981, they were with long, banking S-turns used to lose speed, and a high angle of attack generating extra drag.
Part of the problem was perhaps that the space helicopter concept involved lots of moving parts that could go wrong. To make it more manoeuvrable on re-entry, we suggested that 鈥渢he rotors could be fitted with small, throttleable rockets on their tips鈥�.
That idea continued to have its adherents. On 8 May 1999, we reported that entrepreneur Richard Branson was looking to invest in a rocket-assisted space helicopter called Roton. A full-scale test vehicle made three flights, but the company ran out of money in 2001. As recently as October 2012, from the top of Kennedy Space Center鈥檚 Vehicle Assembly Building, to see if free-spinning rotors might provide a means for recovering spent rocket stages, as well as spacecraft. There is nothing new under the sun.
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