Parachute Recovery Systems

The purpose of this manual is to provide recovery system engineers in government and industry with tools to evaluate, analyze, select, and design parachute recovery systems. These systems range from simple, one-parachute assemblies to multiple-parachute systems, and may include equipment for impact attenuation, flotation, location, retrieval, and disposition. All system aspects are discussed, including the need for parachute recovery, the selection of the most suitable recovery system concept, concept analysis, parachute performance, force and stress analysis, material selection, parachute assembly and component design, and manufacturing. Experienced recovery system engineers will find this publication useful as a technical reference book; recent college graduates will find it useful as a textbook for learning about parachutes and parachute recovery systems; and technicians with extensive practical experience will find it useful as an engineering textbook that includes a chapter on parachute- related aerodynamics. In this manual, emphasis is placed on aiding government employees in evaluating and supervising the design and application of parachute systems. The parachute recovery system uses aerodynamic drag to decelerate people and equipment moving in air from a higher velocity to a lower velocity and to a safe landing. This lower velocity is known as rate of descent, landing velocity, or impact velocity, and is determined by the following requirements: (1) landing personnel uninjured and ready for action, (2) landing equipment and air vehicles undamaged and ready for use or refurbishment, and (3) impacting ordnance at a preselected angle and velocity.

This manual provides the recovery system engineer in Government and industry with tools to evaluate, select, design, test, manufacture, and operate parachute recovery systems. These systems range from simple, one-parachute assemblies to multiple-parachute systems, and may include equipment for impact attenuation, flotation, location, retrieval, and disposition. All system aspects are discussed, including the need for parachute recovery, the selection of the most suitable recovery system concept, a computerized approach to parachute performance, force and stress analysis, geometric gore design, component layout, material selection, system design, manufacturing, and in-service maintenance.

This manual provides the recovery system engineer in Government and industry with tools to evaluate, select, design, test, manufacture, and operate parachute recovery systems. These systems range from simple, one-parachute assemblies to multiple-parachute systems, and may include equipment for impact attenuation, flotation, location, retrieval, and disposition. All system aspects are discussed, including the need for parachute recovery, the selection of the most suitable recovery system concept, a computerized approach to parachute performance, force and stress analysis, geometric gore design, component layout, material selection, system design, manufacturing, and in-service maintenance.

Multi-stage parachute recovery systems are used for (1) aerial delivery systems, (2) escape of personnel from disabled aircraft and (3) recovery of spacecraft. Factors related to the dynamics of the payload-parachute system are very importamt in the optimum design of parachute recovery systems. A three-degree-of-freedom mathematical analysis is presented here giving the motion of a typical vehicle during recovery. This analytical method is a useful tool because it yields parachute loads for a variety of vehicle dynamic conditions and parachute configurations, and enables the designer to predict undesirable recovery attitudes.

Laika began her life as a stray dog on the streets of Moscow and died in 1957 aboard the Soviet satellite Sputnik II. Initially the USSR reported that Laika, the first animal to orbit the earth, had survived in space for seven days, providing valuable data that would make future manned space flight possible. People believed that Laika died a painless death as her oxygen ran out. Only in recent decades has the real story become public: Laika died after only a few hours in orbit when her capsule overheated. Laika’s Window positions Laika as a long overdue hero for leading the way to human space exploration. Kurt Caswell examines Laika’s life and death and the speculation surrounding both. Profiling the scientists behind Sputnik II, he studies the political climate driven by the Cold War and the Space Race that expedited the satellite’s development. Through this intimate portrait of Laika, we begin to understand what the dog experienced in the days and hours before the launch, what she likely experienced during her last moments, and what her flight means to history and to humanity. While a few of the other space dog flights rival Laika’s in endurance and technological advancements, Caswell argues that Laika’s flight serves as a tipping point in space exploration “beyond which the dream of exploring nearby and distant planets opened into a kind of fever from which humanity has never recovered.” Examining the depth of human empathy—what we are willing to risk and sacrifice in the name of scientific achievement and our exploration of the cosmos, and how politics and marketing can influence it—Laika’s Windowis also about our search to overcome loneliness and the role animals play in our drive to look far beyond the earth for answers.

The objective of this report is to present the derivation and application of an analytical technique to quantitatively predict and measure the performance/stability of a tandem parachute Mid-Air Recovery System (MARS). In this system, a main parachute is used to control the rate of descent of the payload and a smaller parachute, tethered to the apex of this main chute, serves as an engagement target for the recovery aircraft. Significant parameters relevant to the position and stability of the engagement parachute are identified and quantified. Those parameters relevant to system stability, as viewed by the pilot of the retrieval aircraft, are combined into a single numerically valued stability factor. Sensitivity of the stability factor to variation of its components is assessed. The stability quantification technique is applied to flight test data from two different systems. On one system, the performance of gliding and nongliding main canopy configurations is analyzed and compared. For the other system, an estimation is made of the potential change in performance obtainable through conversion from a non-gliding to a gliding main parachute. Potential refinements of the stability quantification technique to improve its sensitivity are presented. (Author).

The USAF B-1 Strategic Bomber employs the Ejectable Crew Module Escape concept. The crew module, which forms an integral portion of the forward fuselage during normal flight and encompasses the presurized crew cabin, is designed to afford maximum protection for the six crew members. The Parachute Recovery System (PRS) must be capable of performing at speeds from zero to mach 2.3 and at altitudes from zero to 70,000 ft, including adverse cases. The PRS selected for the B-1 crew module PRS consists of a mortar-deployed 14.2-ft nominal diameter variable porosity conical ribbon parachute, to accomplish initial deceleration and stabilization, and a cluster of three 69.8-ft nominal diameter slotted Ringsail main parachutes, to provide the required terminal descent rate. Main parachute deployment is by means of two mortar-deployed 8.4-ft nominal diameter ring slot pilot parachutes. Technical areas presented include component design, development and qualification testing, overall system performance, reliability, and other interesting aspects.