The link at the end of this entry will take you to an article about airbags for the capsule that will replace the space shuttle. The design for the capsule has been changing. At first it was going to touchdown primarily on land. After they crunched the numbers they concluded that the airbag system to cushion the landing weighed too much so they switched to landings in the ocean. It looks like they were able to cut down the weight of the airbag landing system so touching down on land is now an option again for emergencies and maybe they can rework things to make land the primary touch down method.
Personally, I think touching down on land is better than the water to keep the costs down. The Russians have been doing it forever, but the new Orion design is going to be a bigger capsule. I wish I could experience the design process these guys must be going through. All engineering geeks want to be in on these ground floor discussions ;)
Reblogged with MessageDance using Google Reader | Reply On Twitter
Personally, I think touching down on land is better than the water to keep the costs down. The Russians have been doing it forever, but the new Orion design is going to be a bigger capsule. I wish I could experience the design process these guys must be going through. All engineering geeks want to be in on these ground floor discussions ;)
via www.aviationnow.com on 6/20/08
The system would protect astronauts if the capsule is forced to return to Earth on dry land instead of in the ocean. Reblogged with MessageDance using Google Reader | Reply On Twitter
No comments:
Post a Comment