OPERATIONAL ENVELOPES FOR CONSERVATIVE ASTRONAUT RETRIEVAL BY TETHERLINE.

Abstract

The purpose of the study was to determine in general the conditions for which an astronaut could be recovered to a spacecraft in a circular orbit of 107.56 miles using a tetherline. Simultaneous differential equations were solved with a digital computer for a large number of recovery trajectories varying initial conditions and recovery parameters. Two types of tethering systems were examined. It was found that if the astronaut was initially at rest he could be safely recovered from up to 130 ft away, but that if he had certain initial transverse velocities the safe operating radius was reduced drastically. (Author)

Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Aug 01, 1965
Accession Number
AD0621275

Entities

People

  • Thomas Robert Lange

Organizations

  • Air Force Institute of Technology

Tags

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Circular Orbits
  • Computers
  • Differential Equations
  • Digital Computers
  • Equations
  • Orbits
  • Recovery
  • Spacecraft
  • Tethering
  • Trajectories
  • Transverse

Fields of Study

  • Physics

Readers

  • Aerospace Engineering.
  • Plasma Physics / Magnetohydrodynamics
  • Systems Analysis and Design

Technology Areas

  • Space
  • Space - Orbital Debris