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. For an artist's conception of the FLEEP being tested in in the LLRF, see my FLEEP "info" page.

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.