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Advanced Concepts Research for Flywheel Technology ApplicationsThe Missile Defense Agency (MDA) (formerly the Ballistic Missile Defense Organization) is embarking on a program to employ the use of High Altitude Airships (HAAs) for surveillance of coastal areas as a part of homeland defense. It is envisioned that these HAAs will fly at 70,000 feet continuously for at least a year, therefore requiring a regenerative electric power system. As part of a program to entice the MDA to utilize the NASA GRC expertise in electric power and propulsion as a means of risk reduction, an internal study program was performed to examine possible configurations that may be employed on a HAA to meet a theoretical surveillance need. This entailed the development of a set of program requirements which were flowed down to system and subsystem level requirements as well as the identification of environmental and infrastructure constraints. Such infrastructure constraints include the ability to construct a reasonably sized HAA within existing airship hangers, as the size of such vehicles could reach in excess of 600 ft. The issues regarding environments at this altitude are similar to those that would be imposed on satellite in Low Earth Orbit. Additionally, operational constraints, due to high winds at certain times of the year were also examined to determine options that could be examined to allow year round coverage of the US coast.
Document ID
20040171268
Acquisition Source
Glenn Research Center
Document Type
Contractor or Grantee Report
Authors
Keith, Theo G., Jr.
(Toledo Univ. OH, United States)
Wagner, Robert
(Toledo Univ. OH, United States)
Date Acquired
August 22, 2013
Publication Date
August 1, 2004
Subject Category
Spacecraft Design, Testing And Performance
Funding Number(s)
CONTRACT_GRANT: NAG3-2646
Distribution Limits
Public
Copyright
Work of the US Gov. Public Use Permitted.
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