Word: retrorocket
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...like an old French bathtub-narrower at one end than at the other. It is 6 ft. long, 4| ft. wide, 21 ft. deep. Sheathed in a Johnson-designed nylon heat shield for re-entry into the earth's atmosphere, the craft is equipped with a swivel-mounted retrorocket, attitude-control jets, a transponder for ground control, a built-in oxygen supply, a parachute and a survival kit. Johnson envisions a typical Apollo spacecraft as carrying three such lifeboats in its service mod ule or equipment section...
...from his EVA suit to power the craft's attitude-control system. Face pressed against the porthole, he aligns his lifeboat with the horizon by firing the attitude-control jets. After sighting a landmark on earth with the reticle marked on the porthole, he aims and fires the retrorocket for 100 seconds, thus braking the lifeboat to a de-orbiting speed of 16,500 m.p.h. Then the retrorocket is jettisoned...
Something went wrong. What J.P.L.'s Surveyor Project Manager Howard J. Haglund thought was "a perfectly normal flight" abruptly ended less than two seconds before Surveyor 4's retrorocket was scheduled to stop firing 40,000 ft. above the moon as all radio contact ended. The best guess at J.P.L. is that the retrorocket exploded, blasting the craft to bits. Whether that actually happened, or whether Surveyor 4 disintegrated on impact, is a mystery that may never be solved-unless astronauts some day hike to the target site and examine the wreckage...
...astronaut stranded in orbit could transfer to a small lifting body stowed aboard his disabled spacecraft. Detaching the space lifeboat (TIME, March 10), he could fire its retrorocket to drop out of orbit, then glide through the atmosphere to a convenient airport. Larger lifting bodies could ferry men and supplies to space stations and perform orbital missions themselves. The craft's ability to maneuver to an airport and land safely would eliminate the need for the costly 10,000-man recovery force that now must be deployed for each space mission...
...would come close to providing a human presence aboard a spacecraft without requiring the complex and bulky life-support systems that provide food, water and oxygen to astronauts. Because a telefactor is expendable, it could be used on missions too hazardous for man; its spacecraft would not require the retrorocket system, extra fuel and heat shield necessary for a safe return trip to earth...