New Technology in Airdrop

choi

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(1) Press release: Airborne Systems precision airdrop system is rolled out
across all US Military Forces. Airborne Systems, Sept. 8, 2009.
http://www.airborne-sys.com/Press%20Releases/DSEi%20Sept%2009%20-%20US%20DoD%20fields%20the%202k%20Firefly%20_final_.pdf
(Joint Precision Airdrop Systems (JPADS): "a GPS guided parachute system
capable of carrying payloads of up to 2,200 lb (1000kg) that can be dropped
from altitudes up to 25,000 ft (7600m). Using a steerable ram air parachute,
the JPADS 2K can fly itself to a target up to 25 kilometres away, and land
accurately at the designated target")

My comment:
(a) There is an onboard computer (in the package to be delivered). The
precision of JPADS is classified.
(b) GPS Equipped Parachutes Deliver Blood from the Sky to Save Lives. US
Department of Defense, Mar. 17, 2010.
http://www.militaryblood.dod.mil/press/video_archive.aspx?d=365

The video clip showed how close the drop is near the mark (identified with
red).


(2) C-17 cargo plane carries and drops increasingly heavier payloads.

Press releases in chronological order:
(a) Ares Super-chute. NASA, Mar. 13, 2009.
http://science.msfc.nasa.gov/science-news/science-at-nasa/2009/13mar_superchute/

Quote:

"'NASA's new Ares moon rocket is going to have a reusable booster stage that
we plan to recover after each mission,' explains James Burnum of Marshall
Space Flight Center. 'To "catch" the booster before it crashes back to Earth
, we need a super-reliable parachute system.'

"'We flew at 175 knots at 25,000 feet, and dropped one of the heaviest
payloads a C-17 has ever carried – a 50,000 pound stand-in for the spent
Ares booster,' says [chief pilot Frank] Batteas.

(b) NASA Tests Load Limits for Ares I Rocket Main Parachute. NASA, Oct. 8,
2009.
http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/constellation/ares/droptest_oct09.html
("From the back of a U.S. Air Force C-17 aircraft, researchers dropped a 72,
000-pound payload -- tying the record for the heaviest load ever extracted
from the aircraft during flight -- from an altitude of 25,000 feet. The
parachute and all test hardware functioned properly and landed safely.")

(c) Mark Schauer, Another record-breaking parachute drop in support of NASA.
Yuma Proving Ground (YPG), Nov. 10, 2009.
http://www.yuma.army.mil/site_news_story.asp?id=83
("A 44-foot long, 36-ton test dart outfitted with the main parachute for
NASA's Ares rocket booster")

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yuma_Proving_Ground
(part of US Army; in southwestern Arizona, approximately 30 miles (48 km)
north-east of the city of Yuma)

My comment: The 50,000 and 72,000 pounds are 22.5 and 32.4 tonnes, respectively.

※ 修改:．choi 于 Aug  1 14:59:37 修改本文．[FROM: 128.197.0.0]