a_v_bw_o_n (S-63-79)
In lieu of an informative caption, and it being a unique/odd scene, I propose:
Two F-4 ‘Phantom’ fighter aircraft provide close-air support after the emergency touchdown of an Apollo capsule in the Kazakh Steppe region of the Soviet Union. Earth Landing System ensured crew survival, who were then exfiltrated to West Germany.
Tongue-in-cheek of course, but why else would F-4’s be screaming past an Apollo command module at touchdown? Pretty impractical for recovery operations, so…what else is there? Purely artistic license? So, with that, this is the first & only artist’s concept of an Apollo touchdown/splashdown/recovery (that I’ve come across) that features fixed-wing aircraft.
I don’t know if the capsule’s base, visible between the expanding dust/dirt plumes, is the paint scheme, or maybe a footpad or some other sort of landing attenuation system. If there are fighter jets flying by at tree-top level, anything’s possible! So, a SEAL team is probably enroute, ETA 12 minutes. 👍
Although a rather implausible scene, it is well rendered...from the aircraft themselves, the collapsing parachutes, to the very realistic dust plume. Thus, along with the year & the depiction of a NAA-manufactured craft, the artist may just be Gary Meyer.
a_v_bw_o_n (S-63-79)
In lieu of an informative caption, and it being a unique/odd scene, I propose:
Two F-4 ‘Phantom’ fighter aircraft provide close-air support after the emergency touchdown of an Apollo capsule in the Kazakh Steppe region of the Soviet Union. Earth Landing System ensured crew survival, who were then exfiltrated to West Germany.
Tongue-in-cheek of course, but why else would F-4’s be screaming past an Apollo command module at touchdown? Pretty impractical for recovery operations, so…what else is there? Purely artistic license? So, with that, this is the first & only artist’s concept of an Apollo touchdown/splashdown/recovery (that I’ve come across) that features fixed-wing aircraft.
I don’t know if the capsule’s base, visible between the expanding dust/dirt plumes, is the paint scheme, or maybe a footpad or some other sort of landing attenuation system. If there are fighter jets flying by at tree-top level, anything’s possible! So, a SEAL team is probably enroute, ETA 12 minutes. 👍
Although a rather implausible scene, it is well rendered...from the aircraft themselves, the collapsing parachutes, to the very realistic dust plume. Thus, along with the year & the depiction of a NAA-manufactured craft, the artist may just be Gary Meyer.