NASA Logo

NTRS

NTRS - NASA Technical Reports Server

Back to Results
Investigation of the Landing Characteristics of a Re-entry Vehicle Having a Canted Multiple Air Bag Load Alleviation SystemAn investigation was made to determine the landing-impact characteristics of a reentry vehicle having a multiple-air-bag load-alleviation system. A 1/16-scale dynamic model having four canted air bags was tested at flight-path angles of 90 degrees (vertical), 45 degrees, and 27 degrees for a parachute or paraglider vertical letdown velocity of 30 feet per second (full scale). Landings were made on concrete at attitudes ranging from -l5 degrees to 20 degrees. The friction coefficient between the model heat shield and the concrete was approximately 0.4. An aluminum diaphragm, designed to rupture at 10.8 pounds per square inch gage, was used to maintain initial pressure in the air bags for a short time period.
Document ID
20070030986
Acquisition Source
Langley Research Center
Document Type
Video
Authors
McGehee, John R.
(NASA Langley Research Center Hampton, VA, United States)
Stubbs, Sandy M.
(NASA Langley Research Center Hampton, VA, United States)
Date Acquired
August 24, 2013
Publication Date
May 15, 1963
Subject Category
Spacecraft Design, Testing And Performance
Report/Patent Number
L-785
Distribution Limits
Public
Copyright
Work of the US Gov. Public Use Permitted.
Keywords
TESTS
EXPERIMENTS

Available Downloads

There are no available downloads for this record.
No Preview Available