Investigation of the launch pad abort capabilities of the HL-20 lifting bodyThe capability of the HL-20 lifting body spacecraft to perform an abort maneuver from the launch pad to a horizontal landing was studied at NASA Langley Research Center. This study involved both piloted and batch simulation models of the vehicle. A point-mass model of the vehicle was used for trajectory optimization studies. The piloted simulation was performed in the Visual Motion Simulator in fixed-base mode. A candidate maneuver was developed and refined for the worst-case launch-pad-to-landing-site geometry using an iterative procedure of off-line maneuver analysis followed by piloted evaluations and heuristic improvements to the candidate maneuver. The resulting maneuver demonstrates the launch site abort capability of the HL-20 and dictates requirements for nominal abort motor performance. The sensitivity of the maneuver to variations in several design parameters was documented.
Document ID
19930057063
Acquisition Source
Legacy CDMS
Document Type
Conference Paper
Authors
Jackson, E. B. (NASA Langley Research Center Hampton, VA, United States)
Rivers, Robert A. (NASA Langley Research Center Hampton, VA, United States)
Chowdhry, Rajiv S. (Lockheed Engineering & Sciences Co. Hampton, VA, United States)
Ragsdale, W. A. (NASA Langley Research Center Hampton, VA, United States)
Geyer, David W. (Unisys Corp. Hampton, VA, United States)