A mockup of a 12-man “Big G” spacecraft at McDonnell Douglas in 1969.
"Big Gemini (or "Big G") was proposed to NASA by McDonnell Douglas in August 1969 as an advanced version of the Gemini spacecraft system. It was intended to provide large-capacity, all-purpose access to space, including missions that ultimately used Apollo or the Space Shuttle."
"Two baseline spacecraft were defined: a nine-man minimum modification version of the Gemini B called Min-Mod Big G and a 12-man advanced concept, having the same exterior geometry but with new, state-of-the-art subsystems, called Advanced Big G."
"Three launch vehicles-Saturn IB, Titan IIIM, and Saturn INT-20 (S-IC/S-IVB) were investigated for use with the spacecraft. The Saturn IB was discarded late in the study."
"The study was performed to generate a preliminary definition of a logistic spacecraft derived from Gemini that would be used to resupply an orbiting space station. Land-landing at a preselected site and refurbishment and reuse were design requirements."
"Big Gemini would land on dry lake beds or airstrips on skids, as were used on the X-15 and were planned for the X-20 and basic Gemini. A parasail would allow the pilot to manoeuvre to a pinpoint landing."
"The concept was given serious consideration. In 1971, faced with budget cuts which rendered the development of a fully-reusable space shuttle infeasible, NASA administrator George Low lamented that shuttle development might have to be delayed until the 1980s, with 'something like a 'big G' approach and a cheap space station' filling in as an interim. The Office of Management and Budget was much more favorable to the idea than NASA, concluding in a staff paper that Big Gemini launched aboard an uprated Titan III would be a more cost-effective option than any shuttle design. Ultimately OMB Deputy Director Caspar Weinberger helped to broker a compromise where Big G was taken off the table and NASA was given the greenlight for immediate development of a partially-reusable thrust-assisted orbiter shuttle."
