Capsule Emergency Landing System Segmentation
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Current recovery systems for spacecraft capsules, whether using parachutes or rocket/jet propulsion, face challenges such as high weight penalties, deployment reliability issues, and risks associated with volatile propellants, particularly when a backup system is required to ensure safe landing.
Innovation Solution
The spacecraft is split into a crew compartment and a service compartment, with the crew compartment separating from the service compartment in case of propulsion failure, allowing for the deployment of parachutes only for the lighter crew compartment, thereby reducing the weight and hazard of the parachute system, and enabling safer separation of potentially hazardous service components.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a backup parachute system is added to a rocket/jet propulsion braking capsule-spacecraft, then crew safety is improved, but the mass of the capsule-spacecraft increases significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The capsule-spacecraft is divided into two separable components: a crew compartment and a service compartment. The crew compartment contains the crew and the parachute system, while the service compartment contains the propulsion system and other support equipment. This segmentation allows the parachute system to only need to support the lighter crew compartment mass rather than the total capsule mass, significantly reducing the parachute system mass requirement.
Solution Approach 2:
The crew compartment is extracted as a separate entity from the service compartment. In the event of propulsion system failure, the crew compartment can be separated and recovered independently using the parachute system. This extraction allows the parachute system to be sized for the reduced mass of the crew compartment only, rather than the full capsule-spacecraft mass.
2Measurement precision
If rocket or jet propulsion is used for landing, then landing precision and control are improved, but the risk of failure and hazard from volatile propellants increases
Solution Approach 1:
The capsule-spacecraft is segmented into a crew compartment and a service compartment containing the propulsion system. This segmentation physically separates the crew from the hazardous propellants, reducing the hazard to crew safety while maintaining the precision landing capability of the propulsion system when needed.
Solution Approach 2:
The service compartment containing the volatile propellants is extracted as a separate entity from the crew compartment. In case of propulsion system failure or hazard, the service compartment can be jettisoned, removing the hazard source while the crew compartment proceeds with safe parachute recovery.
3Reliability
If the capsule-spacecraft mass is increased to accommodate both propulsive landing system and backup parachute system, then safety is improved, but the available payload mass decreases
Solution Approach 1:
By segmenting the capsule-spacecraft into crew and service compartments, the parachute system only needs to support the crew compartment mass (typically 25-40% of total mass). This reduces the parachute system mass requirement proportionally, preserving more payload mass while maintaining safety through the backup parachute capability.
Solution Approach 2:
Extracting the crew compartment as a separate recoverable entity allows the parachute system to be sized for the reduced crew compartment mass rather than total capsule mass. This extraction strategy reduces the mass penalty of the backup parachute system, thereby increasing the available payload mass.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
This approach reduces the mass penalty of recovery systems, enhances crew safety by separating hazardous components, and allows for potential recovery of the service component even after separation, optimizing payload capacity and safety.
Implementation Method 1
Recovery of a human or cargo carrying capsule-spacecraft at the termination of a flight, whether a planned or emergency termination, may be effected by the use of drag devices such as parachutes
Implementation Method 2
Rocket or jet propulsion has the ability to more precisely reduce the terminal velocity of a capsule-spacecraft, and very precisely control landing orientation and location
Data Source
AI summary
A method of landing a capsule-spacecraft having a crew compartment containing crew, light cargo, and whatever other elements are associated with crew safety and comfort during emergency recovery, such as survival equipment and a service component including any propulsion components, heat shield, heavier structure, or other equipment not directly connected with the crew component. In the event of a propulsion system failure, the crew compartment component is immediately separated from the service component, either by automatic or crew action. One or more parachutes are then deployed by rapid methods, such as rocket extraction, from the crew compartment. Because the space craft is separated into two parts the weight of the parachutes is reduced in proportion as the weight of the crew compartment is to the total capsule-spacecraft.