El Kabong

Artifact — Date: 2019 | Photo by: Chris Griffith

This Gemini boilerplate, nicknamed "El Kabong I," was used for soft-landing drop tests as part of the Para-Sail program. Dropped from an aircraft, the Gemini capsule was suspended from a Para-Sail as it descended to a landing site at Fort Hood, TX in August 1965. At 12.5 feet above the ground, altitude sensors fired landing rockets and the vehicle skidded to a stop on its landing gear. The system was never man-rated or used for actual Gemini flights.

Type: Gemini
Kind: Boilerplate
Flight: El Kabong
Location: Air Zoo, Portage, Michigan