The test program developing parachutes for the Orion/MPCV includes drop tests of a Parachute Test Vehicle designed to emulate the wake of the Orion capsule. Delivery of this test vehicle to the initial velocity, altitude, and orientation required for the test is a difficult problem involving multiple engineering disciplines. The available delivery of aircraft options imposed constraints on the test vehicle development and concept of operations. This paper describes the development of this test technique. The engineering challenges include the extraction from an aircraft and separation of two aerodynamically unstable vehicles, one of which will be delivered to a specific orientation with reasonably small rates. The desired attitude is achieved by precisely targeting the separation point using on-board monitoring of the motion. The design of the test vehicle is described. The trajectory simulations and other analyses used to develop this technique and predict the behavior of the test article are reviewed in detail. The application of the technique on several successful drop tests is summarized.


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    Title :

    A Boilerplate Capsule Test Technique for the Orion Parachute Test Program


    Contributors:

    Conference:

    22nd AIAA Aerodynamic Decelerator Systems Technology Conference ; 2013 ; Daytona Beach, FL, United States


    Publication date :

    2013-01-01


    Type of media :

    Conference paper


    Type of material :

    No indication


    Language :

    English






    A Boilerplate Capsule Test Technique for the Orion Parachute Test Program

    Moore, J.W. / Fraire, U. / American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics | British Library Conference Proceedings | 2013



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    Moore, J.W. / Romero, L.M. / American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics | British Library Conference Proceedings | 2013