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, an artist's conception of the FLEEP in use over the lunar surface, and very early scale models of the FLEEP, see my FLEEP overview 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.