wire rope assemblies, high carbon wire, and electromechanical cable (EM), has partnered with NASA engineers to develop specialized assemblies that would secure the parachute to the Orion spacecraft under the most extreme conditions. T is isn’t just any other project. WireCo’s Vice President of Sales for Fabricated Products and Structures, Richard Humiston, was contacted by Airborne Systems in 2010 and asked to develop a light, strong and more abrasion resistant wire rope than ever seen before. It was the legacy of a company called MacWhyte that made WireCo the “go-to” company when NASA contacted Airborne Systems, the direct supplier of the parachutes. MacWhyte had supplied the parachute assemblies for the Apollo back in the 1960s. T e ropes were to be used with NASA’s Orion space capsule parachutes. T e engineers at NASA were looking for a product that had a history, and they were excited to see the fi eld application use of the XLT4s in crane rope. NASA needed a wire rope design that was stainless steel, clean, and incredibly strong with the smallest diameter. WireCo WorldGroup was tasked “to
provide a steel riser assembly which will meet the stringent strength-to-weight ratio and performance requirements for space mission applications,” recalls Humiston. Dr. Bamdad Pourladian, Director of R&D at WireCo, along with the core group of Tim Klein, Bill Foley, Kyle Bowland, Mike Clinard and Jodie Slagle, worked with a team of engineers at NASA, ASNA, and Lockheed Martin to develop a rope that would meet the requirements of the project. T e XLT4 rope was seen by NASA as a superior wire rope design because of its suitability for dynamic conditions and robustness against harsh environments and bending stresses. Once this rope was selected WireCo engineers started to custom engineer an XLT4 rope that would meet NASA’s stringent standards. T e result was an XLT4 rope that boasts the highest strength to weight ratio on the market
20 JULY-AUGUST 2012 WIRE ROPE EXCHANGE
today. “T e assemblies are made up of an extremely high strength rope with specially designed fi ttings on both ends. T e rope and fi ttings were designed by WireCo,” explained Humiston. Since then, extensive testing of the custom rope has been conducted in laboratories to prevent kinking and twisting during deployments, and to improve the strength and tolerance of the rope. In April, NASA completed the fi rst in a series of fl ight-like parachute tests simulating the Orion spacecraft’s return to Earth. A C-130 plane dropped a
Test of the Orion Crew Vehicle’s Parachutes, April 17, 2012: NASA conducted a test of the Orion crew vehicle’s entry, descent and landing parachutes high above the Arizona desert in preparation for the vehicle’s orbital fl ight test, Exploration Flight Test-1. The two primary objectives were to determine how the entire system would respond if one of the three main parachutes infl ated too quickly and to validate the drogue parachute design by testing at a high dynamic pressure that closely mimicked the environments expected for Exploration Flight Test-1. Photo credit: NASA
“This starts a new, exciting chapter in this nation’s great
space exploration story….” - Lori Garver, NASA Deputy Administrator.
dart-shaped test vehicle with a simulated Orion parachute compartment from an altitude of 25,000 feet above the U.S. Army’s Yuma Proving Grounds. Orion’s drogue chutes were deployed at 20,000 feet, followed by the pilot parachutes, which then deployed the main landing parachutes. T e test vehicle landed on the desert fl oor at a speed of almost 25 feet per second, well below the maximum designed touchdown speed of the spacecraft. T is particular drop test had two
primary objectives. T e fi rst determined how the entire system would respond if one of the three main parachutes infl ated too quickly, which occurs if a reefi ng stage, which helps the parachutes open gradually, is skipped. T e second objective was to validate the drogue parachute design by testing at a high dynamic pressure that closely mimicked the environments expected for Exploration Flight Test-1. T is test fl ight, scheduled for 2014, is designed to test a number of Orion’s systems, including the avionics, navigation and thermal protection systems and will send Orion more than 3,000 miles
into space. T e tests were the closest simulation so far to what the actual Orion parachute-landing phase will be during a return from space. Earlier this year in February, NASA successfully conducted another drop test of the Orion crew vehicle’s entry, descent and landing parachutes high above the Arizona desert. In this test, an Air Force C-17 plane dropped a test version of Orion from an altitude of 25,000 feet to test how Orion’s wake, the disturbance of the airfl ow behind the vehicle, would aff ect the performance of the parachute system. Parachutes perform optimally in smooth air that allows proper lift. A wake of choppy air can reduce parachute infl ation. T e test was the fi rst to create a wake mimicking the full-size Orion vehicle and complete system. Like all tests, the goal is to fi nd
fl aws, and to prove concepts. And the Orion parachute drop-tests are no diff erent. WireCo WorldGroup has worked closely with other project engineers to analyze parachute test results and adapt as needed. “While the rope design has not changed since we started on this project… the end
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