Misplaced Pages

#30969

87-495: North Wing Design is an American aircraft manufacturer, specializing in hang gliders , light-sport aircraft and ultralight trikes . The company was based in East Wenatchee, Washington and later moved to Chelan, Washington . The company makes its own sails and wings, and supplies more wings to other North American trike manufacturers, such as Wettrike , than any other manufacturer. Hang glider Hang gliding

174-514: A Moon landing . NASA solicited feasibility study designs from several companies in 1960 and 1961, while Faget and the Space Task Group worked on their own design using a conical/blunt-body capsule (Command Module) supported by a cylindrical Service Module providing electrical power and propulsion. NASA reviewed the entrants' designs in May 1961, but when President John F. Kennedy proposed

261-686: A direct ascent mission profile. This required a single-launch vehicle much larger than the Saturn V , or else multiple Saturn V launches to assemble it in Earth orbit before sending it to the Moon. Early on, the direct ascent mission profile was replaced with lunar orbit rendezvous , augmenting the CSM with the Lunar Excursion Module (LM) to ferry two astronauts to the lunar surface. This reduced

348-703: A kite patent for a fully flexible kited wing with approved claims for its stiffenings and gliding uses; the flexible wing or Rogallo wing , which in 1957 the American space agency NASA began testing in various flexible and semi-rigid configurations in order to use it as a recovery system for the Gemini space capsules . The various stiffening formats and the wing's simplicity of design and ease of construction, along with its capability of slow flight and its gentle landing characteristics, did not go unnoticed by hang glider enthusiasts. In 1960–1962 Barry Hill Palmer adapted

435-551: A 39-bit word composed of three 13-bit "syllables". All numeric data was 26-bit two's-complement integers (sometimes used as fixed-point numbers ), either stored in the first two syllables of a word or in the accumulator . Instructions (always with a 4-bit opcode and 9 bits of operand) could go in any syllable. The Apollo spacecraft was first conceived in 1960 as a three-man craft to follow Project Mercury, to accomplish several types of mission: ferrying astronauts to an Earth-orbiting space station , circumlunar flight, or

522-502: A chronology of the FAI World Hang Gliding Championships. Other forms of competition include Aerobatic competitions, and Speedgliding competitions, wherein the goal is to descend from a mountain as fast as possible while passing through various gates in a manner similar to down-hill skiing. For competitive purposes, there are three classes of hang glider: There are four basic aerobatic maneuvers in

609-512: A control frame. Early hang gliders had a low lift-to-drag ratio , so pilots were restricted to gliding down small hills. By the 1980s this ratio significantly improved, and since then pilots have been able to soar for hours, gain thousands of feet of altitude in thermal updrafts, perform aerobatics, and glide cross-country for hundreds of kilometers. The Federation Aeronautique Internationale and national airspace governing organisations control some regulatory aspects of hang gliding. Obtaining

696-413: A convex base, which carried a heat shield (Item 2 in the diagram below) consisting of an aluminum honeycomb covered with multiple layers of fiberglass . Strapped to it was a retropack ( 1 ) consisting of three rockets deployed to brake the spacecraft during reentry. Between these were three minor rockets for separating the spacecraft from the launch vehicle at orbital insertion. The straps that held

783-408: A cylindrical interior cabin approximately 1 meter (3.3 ft) in diameter nearly perpendicular to the capsule's longitudinal axis. The cosmonaut sat in an ejection seat with a separate parachute for escape during a launch emergency and landing during a normal flight. The capsule had its own parachute for landing on the ground. Although official sources stated that Gagarin had landed inside his capsule,

870-422: A docking probe, with an interior volume of 5.00 cubic meters (177 cu ft). The total spacecraft mass was 6,560 kilograms (14,460 lb). Ten of these craft flew crewed after Korolev's death, from 1967 to 1971. The first ( Soyuz 1 ) and last ( Soyuz 11 ) resulted in the first in-space fatalities. Korolev had developed a 9,850-kilogram (21,720 lb) 7K-LOK variant for use in the lunar mission, but this

957-469: A half. You remember the tragic fire we had at the Cape. (...) Jesus, with that fire going off and that, it would have burned the suits. Everything was soaked in oxygen. So thank God. That was another thing: NASA never tested it under the conditions that they would have had if they would have had to eject. They did have some tests at China Lake where they had a simulated mock-up of Gemini capsule, but what they did

SECTION 10

#1732765081031

1044-801: A hang glider: Paragliders and hang gliders are both foot-launched glider aircraft from which cases the pilot is suspended ("hangs") below the lift surface, but hang gliders include a rigid aluminum frame, while paragliders are entirely flexible and look more similar to a parachute. Gliders and sailplanes are structured from composite materials and may have wheels, propellers, and engines. Space capsule Current examples of crewed space capsules include Soyuz , Shenzhou , and Dragon 2 . Examples of new crew capsules currently in development include NASA's Orion , Boeing's Starliner , Russia's Orel , India's Gaganyaan , and China's Mengzhou . Historic examples of crewed capsules include Vostok , Mercury , Voskhod , Gemini , and Apollo , and active programs include

1131-437: A how-to article by Carl S. Bates proved to be a seminal hang glider article that seemingly affected builders even of contemporary times. Many builders would have their first hang glider made by following the plan in his article. Volmer Jensen with a biplane hang glider in 1940 called VJ-11 allowed safe three-axis control of a foot-launched hang glider. On 23 November 1948, Francis Rogallo and Gertrude Rogallo applied for

1218-402: A jacket and the leg portion is behind the pilot during launch. Once in the air the feet are tucked into the bottom of the harness. They are zipped up in the air with a rope and unzipped before landing with a separate rope. A cocoon harness is slipped over the head and lies in front of the legs during launch. After takeoff, the feet are tucked into it and the back is left open. A knee hanger harness

1305-625: A landing at a goal. In the late 1990s low-power GPS units were introduced and have completely replaced photographs of the goal. Every two years there is a world championship. The Rigid and Women's World Championship in 2006 was hosted by Quest Air in Florida . Big Spring , Texas hosted the 2007 World Championship. Hang gliding is also one of the competition categories in World Air Games organized by Fédération Aéronautique Internationale (World Air Sports Federation - FAI), which maintains

1392-484: A lunar exploration mission. He was pressured by Soviet premier Nikita Khrushchev to postpone development of Soyuz to work on Voskhod, and later allowed to develop Soyuz for space station and lunar exploration missions. He employed a small, lightweight bell-shaped reentry capsule, with an orbital crew module attached to its nose, containing the bulk of the mission living space. The service module would use two panels of electric solar cells for power generation, and contained

1479-408: A mass of 5,560 kilograms (12,260 lb) at launch. The Service Module was 13 feet (4.0 m) long, with a total Command/Service Module (CSM) vehicle length of 36 feet 2.5 inches (11.04 m) including the engine bell. The hypergolic propellant service propulsion engine was sized at 20,500 pounds-force (91,000 N) to lift the CSM off the lunar surface and send it back to Earth using

1566-470: A microphone is worn on the head or incorporated in the helmet, and the PTT switch is either fixed to the outside of the helmet, or strapped to a finger. Operating a VHF band radio without an appropriate license is illegal in most countries that have regulated airwaves (including United States, Canada, Brazil, etc.), so additional information must be obtained with the national or local Hang Gliding association or with

1653-496: A national effort to land a man on the Moon during the 1960s, NASA decided to reject the feasibility studies and proceed with Faget's design, focused on the lunar landing mission. The contract to build Apollo was awarded to North American Aviation . The main Apollo spacecraft was built in two segments: a Command Module (CM) and a Service Module (SM). The CM was 154 inches (3.91 m) in diameter and 137 inches (3.48 m) high, with

1740-438: A premium is placed on gentle behaviour, especially at the stall and natural pitch stability. The wing loading must be very low in order to allow the pilot to run fast enough to get above stall speed . Unlike a traditional aircraft with an extended fuselage and empennage for maintaining stability, hang gliders rely on the natural stability of their flexible wings to return to equilibrium in yaw and pitch. Roll stability

1827-422: A propulsion system engine. The 7K-OK model designed for Earth orbit used a 2,810-kilogram (6,190 lb) reentry module measuring 2.17 meters (7.1 ft) in diameter by 2.24 meters (7.3 ft) long, with an interior volume of 4.00 cubic meters (141 cu ft). The 1,100-kilogram (2,400 lb) spheroidal orbital module measured 2.25 meters (7.4 ft) in diameter by 3.45 meters (11.3 ft) long with

SECTION 20

#1732765081031

1914-403: A range of other uncrewed satellites . It was a single-seat capsule that was 4.4 meters long and 2.4 meters in diameter, weighing 4.73 tonnes at launch. The reentry module was completely covered in ablative heat shield material, 2.3 meters (7.5 ft) in diameter, weighing 2,460 kilograms (5,420 lb). The capsule was covered with a nose cone to maintain a low-drag profile for launch, with

2001-483: A requirement for qualifying as a first crewed spaceflight under International Aeronautical Federation (IAF) rules, it was later revealed that all Vostok cosmonauts ejected and landed separately from the capsule. The capsule was serviced by an aft-facing conical equipment module 2.25 meters (7.4 ft) long by 2.43 meters (8.0 ft), weighing 2,270 kilograms (5,000 lb) containing nitrogen and oxygen breathing gasses, batteries, fuel, attitude control thrusters, and

2088-616: A second Vostok on a one-day flight on August 6, before the US finally orbited the first American, John Glenn , on February 20, 1962. The United States launched a total of two crewed suborbital Mercury capsules and four crewed orbital capsules, with the longest flight, Mercury-Atlas 9 , making 22 orbits and lasting 32 and one-half hours. Many components in the capsule itself were reachable through their own small access doors. Unlike Mercury, Gemini used completely solid-state electronics, and its modular design made it easy to repair. The Gemini spacecraft

2175-528: A spacesuit as a precaution against accidental descent module depressurization. The airlock was jettisoned after use. The lack of ejection seats meant that the Voskhod crew would return to Earth inside their spacecraft unlike the Vostok cosmonauts who ejected and parachuted down separately. Because of this, a new landing system was developed, which added a small solid-fuel rocket to the parachute lines. It fired as

2262-406: A stationary control frame, also known as a triangle control frame, or an A-frame. The control frame normally consists of 2 "down-tubes" and a control bar/base bar/base-tube. Either end of the control bar is attached to an upright tube or a more aerodynamic strut (a "down-tube"), where both extend from the base-tube and are connected to the apex of the control frame/ the keel of the glider. This creates

2349-611: A stiffened flexible wing hang glider in 1904, when Jan Lavezzari flew a double lateen sail hang glider off Berck Beach , France . In 1910 in Breslau , the triangle control frame with hang glider pilot hung behind the triangle in a hang glider, was evident in a gliding club's activity. The biplane hang glider was very widely publicized in public magazines with plans for building; such biplane hang gliders were constructed and flown in several nations since Octave Chanute and his tailed biplane hang gliders were demonstrated. In April 1909,

2436-451: A visual display. These units are generally electronic, vary in sophistication, and often include an altimeter and an airspeed indicator. More advanced units often incorporate a barograph for recording flight data and/or a built-in GPS. The main purpose of a variometer is in helping a pilot find and stay in the 'core' of a thermal to maximize height gain, and conversely indicating when he or she

2523-412: Is also slipped over the head but the knee part is wrapped around the knees before launch and just pick up the pilots leg automatically after launch. A supine or suprone harness is a seated harness. The shoulder straps are put on before launch and after takeoff the pilot slides back into the seat and flies in a seated position. Pilots carry a parachute enclosed in the harness. In case of serious problems,

2610-421: Is an air sport or recreational activity in which a pilot flies a light, non-motorised, fixed-wing heavier-than-air aircraft called a hang glider . Most modern hang gliders are made of an aluminium alloy or composite frame covered with synthetic sailcloth to form a wing . Typically the pilot is in a harness suspended from the airframe , and controls the aircraft by shifting body weight in opposition to

2697-804: Is fill it full of nitrogen. They didn't have it filled full of oxygen in the sled test they had. Gemini was the first astronaut-carrying spacecraft to include an onboard computer, the Gemini Guidance Computer , to facilitate management and control of mission maneuvers. This computer, sometimes called the Gemini Spacecraft On-Board Computer (OBC), was very similar to the Saturn Launch Vehicle Digital Computer . The Gemini Guidance Computer weighed 58.98 pounds (26.75 kg). Its core memory had 4096 addresses , each containing

North Wing Design - Misplaced Pages Continue

2784-490: Is for people who physically cannot foot-launch. In 1983 Denis Cummings re-introduced a safe tow system that was designed to tow through the centre of mass and had a gauge that displayed the towing tension, it also integrated a 'weak link' that broke when the safe tow tension was exceeded. After initial testing, in the Hunter Valley, Denis Cummings, pilot, John Clark, (Redtruck), driver and Bob Silver, officianado, began

2871-503: Is generally set to be near neutral. In calm air, a properly designed wing will maintain balanced trimmed flight with little pilot input. The flex wing pilot is suspended beneath the wing by a strap attached to their harness. The pilot lies prone (sometimes supine ) within a large, triangular, metal control frame. Controlled flight is achieved by the pilot pushing and pulling on this control frame, thus shifting their weight fore or aft, and right or left in coordinated maneuvers. Furthermore,

2958-427: Is in sinking air and needs to find rising air. Variometers are sometimes capable of electronic calculations to indicate the optimal speed to fly for given conditions. The MacCready theory answers the question on how fast a pilot should cruise between thermals, given the average lift the pilot expects in the next thermal climb and the amount of lift or sink he encounters in cruise mode. Some electronic variometers make

3045-426: Is required to provide resistance to distortion and stretch. This resistance is important in maintaining the aerodynamic shape of the sail. Woven polyester provides the best combination of light weight and durability in a sail, with the best overall handling qualities. Laminated sail materials using polyester film achieve superior performance by using a lower stretch material that is better at maintaining sail shape, but

3132-435: Is still relatively light in weight. The disadvantages of polyester film fabrics are that the reduced elasticity under load generally results in stiffer and less responsive handling, and polyester laminated fabrics are generally not as durable or long-lasting as the woven fabrics. In most hang gliders, the pilot is ensconced in a harness suspended from the airframe , and exercises control by shifting body weight in opposition to

3219-413: Is to allow greater liberty regarding distance flights in regulated airspaces, in which the aircraft radio is normally a legal requirement. Fourth is the universal emergency frequency monitored by all other users and satellites and used in case of emergency or impending emergency. GPS (global positioning system) can be used to aid in navigation. For competitions, it is used to verify the contestant reached

3306-551: The New Shepard launches. A crewed space capsule must be able to sustain life in an often demanding thermal and radiation environment in the vacuum of space. It may be expendable (used once, like Soyuz) or reusable (like Crew Dragon ). The Vostok was the Soviet Union 's first crewed space capsule. The first human spaceflight was Vostok 1 , accomplished on April 12, 1961 by cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin . The capsule

3393-537: The Block I design. Block I would be used for uncrewed test flights and a limited number of Earth orbit crewed flights. Though the service propulsion engine was now bigger than required, its design was not changed since significant development was already in progress; however, the propellant tanks were downsized slightly to reflect the modified fuel requirement. Based on astronaut preference, the Block II CM would replace

3480-477: The Flatlands Hang gliding competition at Parkes, NSW. The competition quickly grew, from 16 pilots the first year to hosting a World Championship with 160 pilots towing from several wheat paddocks in western NSW. In 1986 Denis and 'Redtruck' took a group of international pilots to Alice Springs to take advantage of the massive thermals. Using the new system many world records were set. With the growing use of

3567-542: The McDonnell Aircraft Corporation as its contractor in 1959. The Mercury spacecraft's principal designer was Maxime Faget , who started research for human spaceflight during the time of the NACA. It was 10.8 feet (3.3 m) long and 6.0 feet (1.8 m) wide; with the launch escape system added, the overall length was 25.9 feet (7.9 m). With 100 cubic feet (2.8 m ) of habitable volume,

North Wing Design - Misplaced Pages Continue

3654-411: The air such as frequencies restrictions, but has several advantages over FM (i.e. frequency modulated) radios used in other services. First is the great range it has (without repeaters) because of its amplitude modulation (i.e. AM). Second is the ability to contact, inform and be informed directly by other aircraft pilots of their intentions thereby improving collision avoidance and increasing safety. Third

3741-608: The approximate size of a fireball produced by an exploding launch vehicle and from this he gauged that the Titan II would produce a much smaller explosion, thus the spacecraft could get away with ejection seats. Maxime Faget , the designer of the Mercury LES, was on the other hand less-than-enthusiastic about this setup. Aside from the possibility of the ejection seats seriously injuring the astronauts, they would also only be usable for about 40 seconds after liftoff, by which point

3828-488: The booster would be attaining Mach 1 speed and ejection would no longer be possible. He was also concerned about the astronauts being launched through the Titan's exhaust plume if they ejected in-flight and later added, "The best thing about Gemini was that they never had to make an escape." The Gemini ejection system was never tested with the Gemini cabin pressurized with pure oxygen, as it was prior to launch. In January 1967,

3915-490: The calculations automatically, allowing for factors such as the glider's theoretical performance (glide ratio), altitude, hook in weight, and wind direction. Pilots sometimes use 2-way radios for training purposes, for communicating with other pilots in the air, and with their ground crew when traveling on cross-country flights. One type of radio used are PTT ( push-to-talk ) handheld transceivers , operating in VHF FM. Usually

4002-421: The capsule had to be protected from reentry heat on all sides, determining the spherical design (as opposed to Project Mercury 's conical design, which allowed for maximum volume while minimizing the heat shield diameter). During reentry, the heat of atmospheric friction is so great that air molecules around the capsule are ionized, creating a layer of plasma around the capsule which blocks radio communication with

4089-406: The capsule was just large enough for a single crew member. Inside were 120 controls: 55 electrical switches, 30 fuses and 35 mechanical levers. The heaviest spacecraft, Mercury-Atlas 9, weighed 3,000 pounds (1,400 kg) fully loaded. Its outer skin was made of René 41 , a nickel alloy able to withstand high temperatures. The spacecraft was cone shaped, with a neck at the narrow end. It had

4176-409: The competent radio regulatory authority. As aircraft operating in airspace occupied by other aircraft, hang glider pilots may also use the appropriate type of radio (i.e. the aircraft transceiver into Aero Mobile Service VHF band). It can, of course, be fitted with a PTT switch to a finger and speakers inside the helmet. The use of aircraft transceivers is subject to regulations specific to the use in

4263-527: The descent module neared touchdown, providing a softer landing. The Mercury program was the United States' first crewed space program. It ran from 1958 through 1963, with the goal of putting a human in orbit around the Earth and returning him safely. The program used a small capsule attached to a booster rocket to achieve orbit. The development of the Mercury capsule began in earnest after NASA selected

4350-472: The discipline to cease flying when weather conditions are unfavorable, for example: excess wind or risk cloud suck . In the UK, a 2011 study reported there is one death per 116,000 flights, a risk comparable to sudden cardiac death from running a marathon or playing tennis. An estimate of worldwide mortality rate is one death per 1,000 active pilots per year. Most pilots learn at recognised courses which lead to

4437-410: The ejection seats could not be used, the astronauts would return to Earth inside the spacecraft, which would separate from the launch vehicle. The main proponent of using ejection seats was Chamberlin, who had never liked the Mercury escape tower and wished to use a simpler alternative that would also reduce weight. He reviewed several films of Atlas and Titan II ICBM failures, which he used to estimate

SECTION 50

#1732765081031

4524-606: The fact that the wing is designed to bend and flex, provides favourable dynamics analogous to a spring suspension. This provides a gentler flying experience than a similarly sized rigid-winged hang glider. To maximize a pilot's understanding of how the hang glider is flying, most pilots carry flight instruments . The most basic being a variometer and altimeter—often combined. Some more advanced pilots also carry airspeed indicators and radios. When flying in competition or cross country , pilots often also carry maps and/or GPS units. Hang gliders do not have instrument panels as such, so all

4611-617: The fatal Apollo 1 fire demonstrated that pressurizing a spacecraft with pure oxygen created an extremely dangerous fire hazard. In a 1997 oral history, astronaut Thomas P. Stafford commented on the Gemini 6 launch abort in December 1965, when he and command pilot Wally Schirra nearly ejected from the spacecraft: So it turns out what we would have seen, had we had to do that, would have been two Roman candles going out, because we were 15 or 16 psi, pure oxygen, soaking in that for an hour and

4698-599: The fire was probably started by a spark from a frayed wire, and fed by combustible materials that should not have been in the cabin. The crewed flight program was delayed while design changes were made to the Block II spacecraft to replace the pure oxygen pre-launch atmosphere with an air-like nitrogen/oxygen mixture, eliminate combustible materials from the cabin and the astronauts' space suits, and seal all electrical wiring and corrosive coolant lines. The Block II spacecraft weighed 63,500 pounds (28,800 kg) fully fueled, and

4785-911: The first decade of the 1900s; the U is variant of the A-frame. Due to the poor safety record of early hang gliding pioneers, the sport has traditionally been considered unsafe. Advances in pilot training and glider construction have led to a much improved safety record. Modern hang gliders are very sturdy when constructed to Hang Glider Manufacturers Association, BHPA , Deutscher Hängegleiterverband, or other certified standards using modern materials. Although lightweight, they can be easily damaged, either through misuse or by continued operation in unsafe wind and weather conditions. All modern gliders have built-in dive recovery mechanisms such as luff lines in kingposted gliders, or "sprogs" in topless gliders. Pilots fly in harnesses that support their bodies. Several different types of harnesses exist. Pod harnesses are put on like

4872-438: The first truly practical gliders , such as those developed in the United States by John Joseph Montgomery . Otto Lilienthal built controllable gliders in the 1890s, with which he could ridge soar . His rigorously documented work influenced later designers, making Lilienthal one of the most influential early aviation pioneers . His aircraft was controlled by weight shift and is similar to a modern hang glider. Hang gliding saw

4959-598: The flexible wing concept to make foot-launched hang gliders with four different control arrangements. In 1963 Mike Burns adapted the flexible wing to build a towable kite-hang glider he called Skiplane . In 1963, John W. Dickenson adapted the flexible wing airfoil concept to make another water-ski kite glider; for this, the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale vested Dickenson with the Hang Gliding Diploma (2006) for

5046-449: The following sources: Thermals With each generation of materials and with the improvements in aerodynamics, the performance of hang gliders has increased. One measure of performance is the glide ratio . For example, a ratio of 12:1 means that in smooth air a glider can travel forward 12 metres while only losing 1 metre of altitude. Some performance figures as of 2006: Because hang gliders are most often used for recreational flying,

5133-508: The ground, with their results (retrofire times and firing attitude) then transmitted to the spacecraft by radio while in flight. All computer systems used in the Mercury space program were housed in NASA facilities on Earth . The computer systems were IBM 701 computers. The US launched its first Mercury astronaut Alan Shepard on a suborbital flight almost a month after the first crewed orbital spaceflight. The Soviets were able to launch

5220-409: The ground. However, ionized gases in the plasma layer can also be used to create an artificial radio window, allowing communication signals to be transmitted and received despite the interference. Some control of the capsule's reentry orientation was possible by offsetting its center of gravity. Proper orientation with the cosmonaut's back to the direction of flight was necessary in order to best sustain

5307-496: The instruments are mounted to the control frame of the glider or occasionally strapped to the pilot's forearm. Gliding pilots are able to sense the acceleration forces when they first hit a thermal, but have difficulty gauging constant motion. Thus it is difficult to detect the difference between constantly rising air and constantly sinking air. A variometer is a very sensitive vertical speed indicator. The variometer indicates climb rate or sink rate with audio signals (beeps) and/or

SECTION 60

#1732765081031

5394-616: The internationally recognised International Pilot Proficiency Information card issued by the FAI . Launch techniques include launching from a hill/cliff/mountain/sand dune/any raised terrain on foot, tow-launching from a ground-based tow system, aerotowing (behind a powered aircraft), powered harnesses , and being towed up by a boat. Modern winch tows typically utilize hydraulic systems designed to regulate line tension, this reduces scenarios for lock out as strong aerodynamic forces will result in additional rope spooling out rather than direct tension on

5481-478: The invention of the "modern" hang glider. Since then, the Rogallo wing has been the most used airfoil of hang gliders. Hang glider sailcloth is normally made from woven or laminated fiber, such as dacron or mylar , respectively. Woven polyester sailcloth is a very tight weave of small diameter polyester fibers that has been stabilized by the hot-press impregnation of a polyester resin. The resin impregnation

5568-449: The narrow end of the spacecraft contained three parachutes: a drogue to stabilize free fall and two main chutes, a primary and reserve. Between the heat shield and inner wall of the crew compartment was a landing skirt, deployed by letting down the heat shield before landing. On top of the recovery compartment was the antenna section ( 5 ) containing both antennas for communication and scanners for guiding spacecraft orientation. Attached

5655-476: The net spacecraft mass, allowing the mission to be launched with a single Saturn V . Since significant development work had started on the design, it was decided to continue with the existing design as Block I, while a Block II version capable of rendezvous with the LEM would be developed in parallel. Besides addition of a docking tunnel and probe, Block II would employ equipment improvements based on lessons learned from

5742-474: The package could be severed when it was no longer needed. Next to the heat shield was the pressurized crew compartment ( 3 ). Inside, an astronaut would be strapped to a form-fitting seat with instruments in front of him and with his back to the heat shield. Underneath the seat was the environmental control system supplying oxygen and heat, scrubbing the air of CO 2 , vapor and odors, and (on orbital flights) collecting urine. The recovery compartment ( 4 ) at

5829-810: The parachute is manually deployed (either by hand or with a ballistic assist ) and carries both pilot and glider down to earth. Pilots also wear helmets and generally carry other safety items such as knives (for cutting their parachute bridle after impact or cutting their harness lines and straps in case of a tree or water landing), light ropes (for lowering from trees to haul up tools or climbing ropes), radios (for communication with other pilots or ground crew), and first-aid equipment. The accident rate from hang glider flying has been dramatically decreased by pilot training. Early hang glider pilots learned their sport through trial and error and gliders were sometimes home-built. Training programs have been developed for today's pilot with emphasis on flight within safe limits, as well as

5916-465: The plug-door hatch design. While participating in a pre-launch test on the pad on January 27, 1967, in preparation for the first crewed launch in February, the entire crew of Apollo 1 —Grissom, Edward H. White , and Roger Chaffee —were killed in a fire that swept through the cabin. The plug door made it impossible for the astronauts to escape or be removed before their deaths. An investigation revealed

6003-732: The required check-points. Records are sanctioned by the FAI . The world record for straight distance is held by Dustin B. Martin , with a distance of 764 km (475 mi) in 2012, originating from Zapata, Texas . Judy Leden (GBR) holds the altitude record for a balloon-launched hang glider: 11,800 m (38,800 ft) at Wadi Rum, Jordan on 25 October 1994. Leden also holds the gain of height record: 3,970 m (13,025 ft), set in 1992. The altitude records for balloon-launched hang gliders: Competitions started with "flying as long as possible" and spot landings. With increasing performance, cross-country flying has largely replaced them. Usually two to four waypoints have to be passed with

6090-457: The retrorocket. It could support flights as long as ten days. Six Vostok launches were successfully conducted, the last two pairs in concurrent flights. The longest flight was just short of five days, on Vostok 5 on June 14–19, 1963. Since the attitude control thrusters were located in the instrument module which was discarded immediately prior to reentry, the reentry module's path and orientation could not be actively controlled. This meant that

6177-455: The safety benefits of being instructed is highly recommended and indeed a mandatory requirement in many countries. In 1853, George Cayley invented a slope-launched, piloted glider. Most early glider designs did not ensure safe flight; the problem was that early flight pioneers did not sufficiently understand the underlying principles that made a bird's wing work. Starting in the 1880s, technical and scientific advancements were made that led to

6264-624: The same concept (orbital, reentry and service modules) as Soyuz . Its first uncrewed test flight was in 1999, and the first crewed flight in October 2003 carried Yang Liwei for 14 Earth orbits. The seven-seat SpaceX Dragon 2 capsule first launched crew to the International Space Station on 30 May 2020 on the Demo-2 mission for NASA. Although originally envisaged as a development of SpaceX's uncrewed Dragon capsule which

6351-406: The shape of a triangle or 'A-frame'. In many of these configurations additional wheels or other equipment can be suspended from the bottom bar or rod ends. Images showing a triangle control frame on Otto Lilienthal 's 1892 hang glider shows that the technology of such frames has existed since the early design of gliders, but he did not mention it in his patents. A control frame for body weight shift

6438-493: The system, other launch methods were incorporated, static winch and towing behind an ultralight trike or an ultralight airplane . A glider in flight is continuously descending, so to achieve an extended flight, the pilot must seek air currents rising faster than the sink rate of the glider. Selecting the sources of rising air currents is the skill that has to be mastered if the pilot wants to achieve flying long distances, known as cross-country (XC). Rising air masses derive from

6525-459: The tow line. Other more exotic launch techniques have also been used successfully, such as hot air balloon drops from very high altitude. When weather conditions are unsuitable to sustain a soaring flight, this results in a top-to-bottom flight and is referred to as a "sled run". In addition to typical launch configurations, a hang glider may be so constructed for alternative launching modes other than being foot launched; one practical avenue for this

6612-407: The two-piece plug door hatch cover, chosen to avoid an accidental hatch opening such as had happened on Gus Grissom 's Mercury-Redstone 4 flight, with a one-piece, outward-opening hatch to make egress easier at the end of the mission. The Mercury-Gemini practice of using a prelaunch atmosphere of 16.7 pounds per square inch (1,150 mbar) pure oxygen proved to be disastrous in combination with

6699-518: The which also maximized the 8 to 9 g-force . The Vostok design was modified to permit carrying multi-cosmonaut crews, and flown as two flights of the Voskhod programme . The cylindrical interior cabin was replaced with a wider, rectangular cabin which could hold either three cosmonauts seated abreast (Voskhod 1), or two cosmonauts with an inflatable airlock in between them, to permit extravehicular activity (Voskhod 2). A backup solid-fuel retro rocket

6786-557: Was a flap used to ensure the spacecraft was faced heat shield first during reentry. A launch escape system ( 6 ) was mounted to the narrow end of the spacecraft containing three small solid-fueled rockets which could be fired briefly in a launch failure to separate the capsule safely from its booster. It would deploy the capsule's parachute for a landing nearby at sea. (See also Mission profile for details.) The Mercury spacecraft did not have an on-board computer, instead relying on all computation for reentry to be calculated by computers on

6873-454: Was added to the top of the descent module. Vostok's ejection seat was removed to save space (thus there was no provision for crew escape in the event of a launch or landing emergency). The complete Voskhod spacecraft weighed 5,682 kilograms (12,527 lb). Lack of space meant that the crew members of Voskhod 1 did not wear space suits . Both Voskhod 2 crew members wore spacesuits, as it involved an EVA by cosmonaut Alexei Leonov . An airlock

6960-484: Was also shown in Octave Chanute 's designs. It was a major part of the now common design of hang gliders by George A. Spratt from 1929. The most simple A-frame that is cable-stayed was demonstrated in a Breslau gliding club hang gliding meet in a battened wing foot-launchable hang glider in the year 1908 by W. Simon; hang glider historian Stephan Nitsch has collected instances also of the U control frame used in

7047-406: Was heavy and complicated, and NASA engineers reasoned that they could do away with it as the Titan II's hypergolic propellants would burn immediately on contact. A Titan II booster explosion had a smaller blast effect and flame than on the cryogenically fueled Atlas and Saturn. Ejection seats were sufficient to separate the astronauts from a malfunctioning launch vehicle. At higher altitudes, where

7134-527: Was needed because the vehicle's electrical and environmental systems were air-cooled, and complete capsule depressurization would lead to overheating. The airlock weighed 250 kg (551 lb 2 oz), was 700 mm (28 in) in diameter, 770 mm (30 in) high when collapsed for launch. When extended in orbit, it was 2.5 m (8 ft 2 in) long, had an internal diameter of 1 m (3 ft 3 in) and an external diameter of 1.2 m (3 ft 11 in). The second crew member wore

7221-527: Was never flown crewed. The Russians continued to develop and fly the Soyuz to this day. Space capsules have also been used for scientific research and experimentation in space. For example, the Chinese Shenzhou spacecraft has carried out experiments in life sciences, material sciences, fluid dynamics, and space environment monitoring. The PRC developed its Shenzhou spacecraft in the 1990s based on

7308-554: Was originally designed for use both as a camera platform for the Soviet Union's first spy satellite program, Zenit and as a crewed spacecraft. This dual-use design was crucial in gaining Communist Party support for the program. The design used a spherical reentry module, with a biconic descent module containing attitude control thrusters, on-orbit consumables, and the retro rocket for orbit termination. The basic design has remained in use for some 40 years, gradually adapted for

7395-426: Was the precursor to the Apollo program which aimed to land humans on the Moon. It was designed to test new techniques for orbital rendezvous and docking, but it also featured improvements in life support systems, spacecraft reentry, and other critical areas. Gemini's emergency launch escape system did not use an escape tower powered by a solid-fuel rocket , but instead used aircraft-style ejection seats . The tower

7482-657: Was used for the NASA Commercial Resupply Services contract, the demands of crewed spaceflight resulted in a significantly redesigned vehicle with limited commonality. The Dragon capsule was designed to be reusable. In fact, SpaceX has flown the same Dragon capsule to the International Space Station multiple times, with the first successful reuse occurring in June 2017. The six-seat Blue Origin developed New Shepard crew capsule

7569-570: Was used in four crewed Earth and lunar orbital test flights, and seven crewed lunar landing missions. A modified version of the spacecraft was also used to ferry three crews to the Skylab space station, and the Apollo-Soyuz Test Project mission which docked with a Soviet Soyuz spacecraft. The Apollo spacecraft was retired after 1974. In 1963, Korolev first proposed the three-man Soyuz spacecraft for use in Earth orbit assembly of

#30969