# Landing in water vs. landing on land

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/landing-in-water-vs-landing-on-land/267333>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [October 3, 2004, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/landing-in-water-vs-landing-on-land/267333 "2004-10-03T16:12:08Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 1\
**Page:** 2

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**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\
**Post date:** [October 4, 2004, 4:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/landing-in-water-vs-landing-on-land/267333/21 "2004-10-04T04:20:13Z")

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> [@Curate](#):
>
> I remember building plastic models of Gemini capsules in the late sixties with some sort of landing skids that extended from the bottom. Maybe there was some sort of contingency early on that made it into the design of the model.

Sure was. The [Paresev](http://www.airspacemag.com/asm/mag/viewport.html) program was intended to provide a controllable soft landing for horizontally-supported Geminis, but was ruled too heavy and bulky to make it aboard the spacecraft. It was, however, the origin of the Rogallo wing that became the standard hang-glider design.

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