Flying Lunar Excursion Experimental Platform (FLEEP)
The Flying Lunar Excursion Experimental Platform, or FLEEP, was used in a research program to explore and evaluate design approaches for a lunar flying vehicle. Handling and other piloting problems were studied with the pilot in a standing position in the simulated lunar gravity field with six degrees of freedom.
The FLEEP was one of a number of one- or two-man flying lunar vehicle concepts designed to extend the exploration radius of the Apollo astronauts. It was designed to be tested in Langley Research Center's Lunar Landing Research Facility, an A-frame steel gantry 400 feet long and 230 feet tall. Below is an artist's conception of the FLEEP being tested in in the LLRF:
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From an eBay auction.
Here's the back of the photo:
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From an eBay auction.
December 16th, 1969
PRELIMINARY CONCEPT of "FLEEP"
This drawing shows the preliminary concept of FLEEP - Flying Lunar Excursion Experimental Platform - which North American Rockwell Corporation's (FR) Space Division will design and build under contract to the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's Langley Research Center, Hampton, Va. The one-man FLEEP will be flown in Langley's lunar simulation facility to test and evaluate the handling concepts for a vehicle for future travel on the Moon's surface. The cable system attached to the FLEEP during flights in the facility is used to support five-sixths of the vehicle's weight so as to simulate the reduced gravity effects of the Moon.
H/K3ystone 2500/824002
Although I was unable to find much information about the FLEEP itself, the FLEEP program fed into several other designs. For additional reading on the FLEEP's contributions to these follow-on programs, see Studies of Piloting Problems of One-Man Flying Units Operated in Simulated Lunar Gravity, the One Man Lunar Flying Vehicle Final Report, and the Lunar Escape Systems (LESS) Feasibility Study.


