NEWS; Testing of Russian "space parachute" for returning cargoes to earth postponed

Testing of Russian "space parachute" for returning cargoes to earth
postponed

Moscow, 23 September: Tests of the Russian "space parachute"
Demonstrator-2 have been postponed until May 2004, the press secretary
of the Babakin scientific research centre, Lidiya Avdeyeva, told an
ITAR-TASS correspondent. It had been planned earlier to launch the
Demonstrator-2 into a suborbital trajectory with the aid of a Shtil
rocket from a Russian Navy nuclear-powered submarine in October of
this year. The centre said the experimental launch had been postponed
because of "the need for another thorough check of all of the
equipment". According to Avdeyeva, the "parachute" will soon be able
to return cargoes weighing tens of tonnes from orbit. "Its use for the
descent will be considerably cheaper than that of shuttles and manned
Soyuz craft, which are currently the only means of delivering cargoes
to earth," Avdeyeva said. The device will be delivered to the
International Space Station folded up. After the cargo is secured, the
device separates from the station and descends to earth along a given
trajectory. Before entering the atmosphere, the "parachute" "is
inflated" with nitrogen, turning into an inverted two-level cone. "A
special flexible heat-shield makes it possible to deliver cargoes
intact, even though the temperature on the surface of the cone reaches
6,000 degrees," Avdeyeva stressed. The three previous attempts to
check the work of the apparatus in action were unsuccessful because of
faults with the booster-rocket. "If the May tests are successful, the
device may in future be used not only to return cargoes, but also to
evacuate the crew from the International Space Station and for soft
landings on other planets," Avdeyeva said.
[ITAR-TASS news agency]

http://www.gateway2russia.com/artf.p...d=&query=soyuz

ADDITIONAL INFO AND ILLUSTRATIONS AT THIS URL:

http://www.weblab.dlr.de/rbrt/GpsNav...chon_paper.pdf

"Rusty B" wrote in message
om...
Testing of Russian "space parachute" for returning cargoes to earth
postponed

http://www.gateway2russia.com/artf.p...d=&query=soyuz

ADDITIONAL INFO AND ILLUSTRATIONS AT THIS URL:

http://www.weblab.dlr.de/rbrt/GpsNav...chon_paper.pdf

Looks a lot like some of those MOOSE concepts to me. Anyone for some
extreme skydiving?

Rusty B wrote:
Testing of Russian "space parachute" for returning cargoes to earth
postponed

Sounds very cool. I've often wondered why nobody has done that yet. Could be
useful in space mining.

David

See the October issue of 'Air & Space' for my feature article on this
technology.


"David Findlay" wrote in message
. au...
Rusty B wrote:
Testing of Russian "space parachute" for returning cargoes to earth
postponed

Sounds very cool. I've often wondered why nobody has done that yet. Could
be
useful in space mining.

David

Ned Pike wrote:

"Rusty B" wrote in message
om...
Testing of Russian "space parachute" for returning cargoes to earth
postponed

http://www.gateway2russia.com/artf.p...d=&query=soyuz

ADDITIONAL INFO AND ILLUSTRATIONS AT THIS URL:

http://www.weblab.dlr.de/rbrt/GpsNav...chon_paper.pdf

Looks a lot like some of those MOOSE concepts to me. Anyone for some
extreme skydiving?

Hmm.
Looking at the various dimensions, it seems that the payload bay is
about 560mm in diameter, and around 830mm tall. (which seems odd, given
the "300l" payload capacity.)
Sitting down, with knees drawn up in front of you, bent forward with a
parachute on your back, should just about work.

At 3Km or so, pop the top, leap out, pull cord.

--
http://inquisitor.i.am/ | | Ian Stirling.
---------------------------+-------------------------+--------------------------
Lord, grant me the serenity to accept that I cannot change, the
courage to change what I can, and the wisdom to hide the bodies
of those I had to kill because they ****ed me off. - Random