Chutes.NL

To show the complexity of the Apollo parachute system. A total of nine parachutes were used to bring the crew home safely. All these parachutes were packed at the top of the capsule.

The Apollo capsule marked the first time a human-rated capsule used a cluster of parachutes. These clusters allow for smaller parachutes to be used together to act as one large one. Besides being easier to produce, it also has the advantage of redundancy in case one fails. https://buff.ly/3YHt83P

Apollo was the first capsule that flew humans into deep space. This means that during the re-entry the thermal loads are significantly higher. This resulted in a different entry profile which just did not skip out of the atmosphere but did fly a flatter trajectory.

Gemini in the water after a successful flight. Even Though the parachute system was changed, the horizontal landing configuration can still be seen. Also seen here is the floatation system and the dye used for finding the spacecraft after landing.

Although Gemini ended up landing with a "standard" parachute, the original plan was for Gemini to utilize a Rogollo wing for landing.

Following the orbital missions of Mercury, the next phase was the Gemini program. This spacecraft marked the first time that two astronauts flew together in a US capsule. The parachute system concept remained unchanged, with a single drogue and main canopy guiding the capsule to a water landing.

Because the thermal loads on a suborbital flight are much less, these first flights had a passive heat shield in the form of a beryllium heatsink. This means it absorbed the heat during re-entry and dispersed it in a cooler part of the flight From https://buff.ly/47PaI44

The first flights of the US Gemini capsule only lasted several minutes and were suborbital. These tests however did prove the functioning of all critical systems and led the way for later flights. This included the parachute sequence with a single drogue and main parachute. For the final landing a landing skirt to dampen the impact. https://buff.ly/3ZGDkua

Did you know that you can support our website by buying our merch? https://buff.ly/3C0G09F Or by donating trough ko-fi: https://buff.ly/2TxjS3f

One interesting feature of Vostok was that the cosmonaut did not actually land with the vehicle but ejected around 7 km altitude and floated back to earth.