MAYDAY IN ORBIT

Duncan Lunan 

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Prof. Nonweiler was approached by Dr. Leo Townend of the APECS consortium, a long-standing supporter of Waverider, and they designed a one-man return vehicle to be used as a Space Station lifeboat. They assumed a fairly gentle atmosphere entry was required, since it might be carrying a casualty: it would have blunter leading edges than a normal Waverider design and would descend unguided to Earth in a series of swoops like a falling leaf, to a final parachute descent. Temperatures inside would be high, and the occupant would ride in a type of thermos flask, like the 'escape capsule' often featured in 1950's fiction - see the attached frames from the 'Jeff Hawke' strip by Sydney Jordan. The proposal was submitted to the Millennium Commission for funding, but was turned down on the grounds that the British public would not support it, and that the aerospace industry could be expected to finance the development itself. (Currently, the UK has no involvement in the Space Station or any manned space-flight, and has forced the European Space Agency to reduce its space science budget.) At the Astronomical Society of Edinburgh in February 1996, I announced a new design by Gordon Ross for the Space Station lifeboat. Provisionally its name is the ASTRA, after the society, but standing for Alpha Station Team Recovery Aircraft (see insert and diagrams by Gordon, with artist's impressions by Andy Paterson). It would have a 'thermos flask' escape capsule like the Nonweiler/Townend design, mounted on a crushable spike within a reinforced carbon-carbon framework, hinged at the nose. This would support a wing made of woven carbon fibre, automatically adjusting itself to the surrounding airflow as it descended through the atmosphere. Because the wings can be folded, multiple ASTRA's will take up little room attached to the Station: the vehicle itself will be extremely cheap and simple. Ideally, six or more could be attached to each airlock now designed for the Soyuz. Instead of having a reaction control system, the ASTRA's attitude would be controlled by gyroscopes, with the autopilot continuously updated by the Space Station computer until separation, so it should be space-storable indefinitely. The astronaut would climb in feet-first, like a torpedo entering a tube, and the lower half of the body would be immobilised, by an inflated protective system of the type now used for broken limbs in ambulances. This helps to prevent blood pooling in the legs during deceleration, leaving the hands free for controls if the occupant is conscious. Final descent would be vertical. by parachute: the ASTRA would fall over on hard rock, but on soft ground the nose would pierce the ground and the ASTRA would remain upright, like an umbrella hurled into the sand. In theory the astronaut could crack the capsule and step out, but after months in weightlessness he or she might be better to wait for rescue, especially if ill or injured, since astronauts returning from long missions are often unable to stand or walk when first exposed to full Earth gravity. In water the wing would act as a sea-anchor, again holding the capsule upright for rescue. In either case, the upper cap of the capsule could be opened while waiting for rescue: with its periscope, retrorocket and parachute the cap is a little reminiscent of the head-piece of a Dalek. Comments about Mary Poppins, in the Wrong Trousers, wearing a Dalek's hat, seem inevitable - but this elegant new idea could be the answer tot he Station lifeboat problem, and a life-saver if 'Mayday in Orbit' becomes a reality.   Page One

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