Posted on 08/20/2004 10:52:24 AM PDT by dead
Pasadena: NASA has recruited two Hollywood helicopter stunt pilots for an especially tricky manoeuvre: snagging a capsule full of stardust as it parachutes back to Earth next month.
The mid-air retrieval 1200 metres above the Utah desert on September 8 is the planned climax to the space agency's $A364 million Genesis mission, which began three years ago with the launch of a space probe to collect tiny charged particles, called ions, blown towards Earth from the sun.
Scientists believe the ions, about 10 to 20 micrograms of oxygen, nitrogen and other elements that collectively weigh about as much as a few grains of salt, will yield key insights about the formation of planets at the dawn of the solar system.
The novel scheme for snaring the re-entry capsule, thus sparing the canister from a rocky landing that could damage the delicate instruments and samples inside, was unveiled at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena on Thursday.
If successful it will make aviation history as the first man-made object captured by aircraft as it entered Earth's atmosphere from space, said Roy Haggard, an aerospace research executive hired by NASA to design the retrieval project.
In recruiting personnel for Genesis, Mr Haggard said all the experts kept pointing to stunt pilots as the best suited for the job. In the end he hired Cliff Fleming, now on the set of the next Batman movie, as his chief pilot and Dan Rudert (Hulk and XXX) as his back-up.
The disc-shaped re-entry capsule, about 1.5 metres wide and weighing about 200 kilograms, will enter the atmosphere at 39,600 kmh. But once its parachute is deployed the pod will slow to just over 32 kmh, dropping at four metres a second, by the time it reaches its "intercept point" about 1200 metres over the desert floor.
The two retrieval helicopters will swoop in once they spot the parachute, which will also be tracked by radar.
The aim is for Fleming to snag the chute with a special six-metre-long hook.
If he misses he and Rudert will have time to make about 10 passes before the capsule drops to 152 metres, too low for a safe mid-air grab.
But Mr Haggard said the pilots successfully hooked the capsule in all 60 of their practice runs.
bttt
I'm pretty sure this is not true. Didn't the CIA do retrievals of spy satellite film in the 60's using this same method? I beleive the satellites were the CORONA series.
As I recall, the first generation of spy sats had film cannisters that were retrieved by aircraft as they fell.
Yep, here, I found this:
"Each group faced unique challenges. The film-retrieval plan called for
dispatching a squadron of six cargo planes, each equipped with a
trapeze-like loop hanging beneath it, to the vicinity of the ejected capsule
as it parachuted to earth. Detecting the capsule's radio beacon and
sighting its descending orange canopy, the pilots would fly the cargo planes
across the top of the parachute and hook onto it while crew inside the
plane's bay yanked the capsule aboard with a winch. If the airborne feat
failed, Corona's recovery vehicle was designed to float long enough for
recovery from the ocean by helicopter launched from a nearby ship."
Here's the url:
http://209.165.152.119/af_track/bob_corona.html
"I'm pretty sure this is not true. Didn't the CIA do retrievals of spy satellite film in the 60's using this same method? I beleive the satellites were the CORONA series."
Exactly. The Soviets also used air retrieval for the same thing. Nothing new here for anyone who knows their history. Kudos to you for knowing it!
Corona film is what John F'n Kerry was retrieving from the Mekong River where it runs on the border with Cambodia in '68!
Now THAT makes a bit more sense.
I was having trouble figuring out how they'd do this w/ just one.
What? A guy with a baseball glove isn't expensive enough? They should've tried to hire a professional baseball player... that would satisfy the NASA requirement that a solution exceed half a million dollars.
The only thing I can think of is that the guy is not considering low earth orbit "space". I think the Corona spacecraft were about 180 miles up. I'd call it space, but its the only difference I can see.
Of course, after they open the container and expose humanity to the space dust, we will all be dead in a matter of weeks.
Oh well, at least we don't have to endure too much more of John Kerry this way!
C-119/"dollar nineteen"/"crowd killer" bump. LOL
That's my recollection as well. Even as far back as the late 50s and the first satellites.
There really should be a spot for Wile E. Coyote in that diagram.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.