Avco 7969

The Avco 7969 was an unusual, unflown late 50s USAF crewed spaceflight concept. Instead of retrorockets, it would use a steel mesh drag brake to slow the spacecraft for reentry. This had an advantage of saving weight and being simpler than a traditional retrorocket system. The 7969 was one of many designs submitted to the Man In Space Soonest project, the USAF's plan to beat the Soviets to space. Ultimately, none of the MISS concepts ever flew. The project was canceled and spaceflight duties were handed over to NASA and their Project Mercury.