Standard Guide for Occupant Survivability in Orbital Vehicles

Importancia y uso:

4.1 Flight crew safety is a complex and all-encompassing goal of human spaceflight. The entire spacecraft is designed to get the flight crew safely to and from their Low Earth Orbit (LEO) destination. In the spirit of Specification F3479, Failure Tolerance for Occupant Safety of Suborbital Vehicles, failure tolerance, or an equivalent means of control where failure tolerance is impractical, is the primary control for prevention of catastrophic hazards that cannot be eliminated from the design. This is true for all hazards which may result in a catastrophic event. The spacecraft can be also be designed with increased levels of failure tolerance to enhance the likelihood of mission success.

4.2 This guide is focused upon the design and operational capabilities necessary to support flight crew survivability when failure tolerance has been exhausted. For example, a spacecraft may have three mission computers that perform identical functions. Typical rules that govern the flight operations might allow continuation of the mission after the first failure. Following the second failure, a mission abort is likely using the single remaining mission computer to return the spacecraft to safety. Should this third computer fail, emergency systems are available to assist the return of the flight crew to safety when possible, and it is those systems that are the focus of this guide. Note that for each emergency situation described herein, a set of emergency procedures and the equipment to implement them will be available in order for the crew to survive.

4.3 LEO missions are divided into pre-launch, ascent, orbit, reentry, and landing. Note that there are separate, additional considerations for transport of humans beyond LEO and for missions having crewed durations in LEO of greater than approximately 30 days which are not within the scope of this guide.

Subcomité:

F47.01

Referida por:

F3658-24

Volúmen:

15.09

Número ICS:

49.020 (Aircraft and space vehicles in general)

Palabras clave:

failure; spacecraft; survival;