Principles of Designing and Ensuring Reliability of Parachute Systems for Foreign Manned Spacecraft

Abstract

The article considers the basic principles of designing and ensuring reliability of foreign manned spacecraft parachute systems. The operation algorithms of the parachute systems of American space descent vehicles are described. Using the method of block diagrams, the features of the constructing and functioning of the descent vehicle parachute systems of the "Gemini" and "Apollo" spacecraft, as well as the most modern ones, such as Crew Return Vehicle (CRV), "Orion" and "Manned Dragon" are analyzed. It is found that the design reliability of parachute systems of space descent vehicles should be at least 0.99996. It is determined that the service life and the number of applications of current space descent vehicles can be increased if designing the stability of any system to two joint failures is ensured. This principle of designing is being applied to aviation systems, is provided by their 3- and 4-fold redundancy, and it is used for the most important spacecraft systems. The reliability of modern parachute systems of the parafoil type has been studied