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Aviation History
1952
1952 - 1781.PDF
FLIGHT, 27 June 1952 775 DESIGN FOR ZERO "G" . . . would be progressively reduced, in conjunction with a g-meter, to keep the value constant. It might be mentioned also that, should the occupant at any time lose consciousness, control would be taken over entirely by an autopilot working on microwave pulses from the ground by which means the observer would be brought automatically to a safe landing. The observer occupies the space in the rocket's nose, and within his pressurized cabin he would have no external vision during the first two minutes of flight. It will be seen from the drawing that the cabin is a self-contained unit inside the nosing and that the external skin local to it is split into separate panels which jettison : the design is such that after a predetermined distance had been travelled, a compressed-air device would catapult the cabin away from the body of the rocket. It was reasoned that separation should occur just after the climax of the thrust period, when the velocity had risen to about 4,700 m.p.h. From the moment power cut out, the efflux vanes would be incapable of producing reaction in the rocket nozzle so that the torque offered by the turbine (which was positioned to rotate about the rocket's major axis) would be relied upon to build up spin. The turbine unit would, of course, continue to be fed by the steam generator despite the fact that the propellant pumps which it normally drove were no longer required to operate. The rate of revolution would thus steadily increase until it reached the figure at which centrifugal force acting on a datum Fig. 1. Longitudinal section of man-carrying rocket, showing general assembly. (1) Nosecap. (2) Compressed-air bottle. (3) Nose fairing. (4) Antennae. (5) Parachute pack. (6) Pressure cabin. (7) Instru mentation. (8) Power-pack and transceiver. (9) Entrance port. (10) Dipole reflector. (11) Control boxes. (12) Spin motor. (13) Strobo-periscope. (14) Carcase parachute. (15) Adjustable seat. (16) Compressed-air bottle. (17) Crumple skirt. (18) Alcohol tank. (19) Vent. (20) Support bracket. (21) Servo valve. (22) Flexible coupling. (23) Alcohol filling-point. (24) Vent. (25) Alcohol feed-pipe. (26) Alcohol distribution manifold. (27) Flexible coupling. (28) Oxygen intake. (29) Steam generator. (30) Oxygen distributor-head. (31) Turbo-pump unit. (32) Combustion chamber. (33) Turbo exhaust. (34) Dipo/e blister. (35) Venturi. (36) Servo-motor. (37) Guide vanes. line passing through the pilot's body produced 32.2 ft/sec2 radial acceleration. At that point, the steam supply to the turbine would be cut, involving a slight decline in the rate of spin due to bearing resistance in the turbine. When the spin was at maximum, the nose fairing sections would part and be thrown off due to the inertia forces acting upon them so that, at any moment subsequent to their removal, the pilot could operate the control which drove the cabin away from the rocket. This control would also initiate a time mechanism for the ejection of the hull parachutes. The cabin would be constructed almost entirely in light alloy, the walls embodying two viewing and access ports provided with shutters as protection from the fierce and unrelenting glare of the sun above the atmosphere. It was suggested that the observer's personal equipment should be an anti-g suit, a standard high flying suit, a parachute and oxygen apparatus. A specially designed cradle-seat is provided in the scheme on which all instruments and control boxes are grouped so that it would be possible for the occupant to change his attitude in the cabin and still have all controls ready to hand. This is important in view of the experi ments to be performed and one of the new devices embodied is a "strobo-periscope," which permits an apparently stationary external field of vision to be obtained from the rotating cabin. Once the motor had ceased thrusting, the pilot would be no longer pressed down into his seat and would become subject to a very changed condition of gravity. Travelling in a high trajectory and freed from appreciable air-drag, he may be regarded as moving in uniform obedience to the combined forces of momentum and gravitation and, if the spinning of the cabin were completely annulled, the observer would experience a condition of "weight lessness" : nothing in the cabin would displace relative to anything else. Probably the nearest approach to "zero gravity" so far experi enced is in "delayed drop" parachute jumps, where the initial drop is made from a height at which the air density is small. This same condition of reduced weight is incurred for a short time, when the parachutist is accelerating freely. However, as air drag builds up, "free fall" no longer obtains and, as terminal velocity is approached, the sensation of weight slowly returns to normal. The critical period in this case is short-lived and in no way can it be taken to infer that this would be of sufficient duration to per mit valid inferences to be drawn. What would be the result of prolonged periods of zero-gravity or even of a reduced gravity is simply not known. This explains more readily why it is necessary to impart the axial spin, which results in "artificial gravity" simulated by centri fugal force. It is obvious that during those periods when the pilot in his cabin is either ascending or descending through air of very low density he will be able to conduct experiments with varying degrees and periods of "weightlessness." Small peroxide- permanganate motors firing tangentially from the cabin at right angles to the major axis would provide the means of rotational control. The time available for test would be about seven minutes, after which the "limited drag" parachute, stowed above the cabin, would release and bear the pilot to earth. (Continued on page 779). Fig. 2. Operating sequence: (f) Rocket in powered ascent. (2) Climax of powered ascent (disposal of fairing). (3) Ejection of cabin and carcase parachute. (4) Parachute descent of cabin.
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