Parachute that goes up
A two-stage lifting parachute system has been developed for very-low-altitude deliveries. The lifting parachute slows and lifts the payload above the release altitude. In the system the second stage is deployed above the release altitude and has time to slow the payload to its terminal velocity and turn the system to a nearly vertical angle at impact. The parachute system reduces the impact energy of a payload to one-tenth that of a conventional single stage system. Development tests of the lifting parachute have included tests from Mach 0.45 to Mach 1.25 with deliveries as low as 85 ft above the ground level. The payload was lifted as much as 240 ft in these tests. Computer simulations show that the lifting parachute could lift a payload more than 500 ft for high subsonic velocities. This lift is a result of changing kinetic energy into potential energy (increase in altitude), so as velocity is reduced the potential for lift falls off rapidly. The parachute in terminal decent will glide horizontally one foot for each two feet of vertical decent. The characteristics of the lifting parachute may be beneficial in safely recovering personnel, instrumentation, or equipment from an aircraft in an emergency.
- Research Organization:
- Sandia Labs., Livermore, Calif. (USA)
- DOE Contract Number:
- EY-76-C-04-0789
- OSTI ID:
- 5240538
- Report Number(s):
- SAND-77-8704; CONF-771215-1
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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