EARTH-LANDING SYSTEMS FOR MANNED SPACECRAFT,
Abstract
The landing system for a manned spacecraft is one of the major systems of the design and is critical from the standpoint of crew safety and mission success. Such a system must be capable of functioning under a wide variety of eventualities, including both normal and aborted missions. This report reviews the guidelines employed in the selection of the earth-landing systems for the Mercury, Gemini, and the Apollo Command Module spacecrafts. The development and qualification programs of the Mercury spacecraft landing system, including the conical, ribbon, drogue parachute, the ringsail main and reserve parachutes, the impact skirt attenuation system, and the deployment methods are discussed. A summary of the parachute performance obtained from the development and qualification test programs is presented, together with the results of the performance of the landing system for the five manned Mercury flights. The design objectives and guidelines for the two-manned Gemini and the three-manned Apollo Command Module spacecraft are described and their current status is discussed. (Author)
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Apr 01, 1963
- Accession Number
- AD0427671
Entities
People
- J. B. Lee
- J. K. Hinson
- J. W. Kiker
Organizations
- AGARD