NASA, Johnson Space Center, BE13,Houston, TX 77058

A -- SEEKING INFORMATION ON AUTONOMOUS PARACHUTE LANDING SYSTEMS AS PART OF THE DEVELOPMENT OF AN ASSURED CREW RETURN VEHICLE (ACRV) FOR THE INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION. SOL 9-BE13-18-6-54P POC Contract Specialist: Yolande B. Harden, (713) 483-9953 Contract Officer: Lisa Rea Phillips, (713) 483-8395 This is a survey only! NASA/JSC is currently investigating the individual technology items required for development of an ACRV for ISS. One of the driving items for this type of mission is the terminal landing system. NASA/JSC is seeking information on available autonomous parachute landing systems with demonstrated soft landing capability.The parachute system will be required to demonstrate the soft landing and recovery of a 15,000 - 20,000 lb spacecraft within the following constraints: a)land landing within a 5 mile diameter landing zone; b)fully autonomous operations from deployment through landing; c)packaging within a range ofvehicle shapes; d)ability to penetrate a 30 fps wind; and e)utilization ofstandard materials and subsystems. The systems will be evaluated in a series of drop tests from NASA's B-52 aircraft using a flight representativ (boilerplate) vehicle with increasing levels of complexity. The first phase of the program will include 3 - 4 drops with the vehicle and parachute system with a deployment envelope ranging from 15,000 - 30,000 ft AGL. The objective of these tests will be to evaluate the capabilities of the parachute system and integration issues. The second phase of the program will include 8 - 10 drop tests of an actively controlled vehicle from the B-52 at ~40,000 ft and Mach 0.6. The objective of these tests will be to gather aerodynamic data on the vehicle in free flight. The parachute system for this phase will be deployed after several flight maneuvers are performed. It is the intention of NASA/JSC to award a contract for the fabrication and delivery of a parachute system by June 1996. Interested vendors are requested to respond with the following information to R.E. Meyerson, Mail Code:EG3, NASA/JSC, Houston, Tx. 77058 or e-mail: meyerson@euler.jsc.nasa.gov. by October 26, 1995:- system description and general description - dimensions and packed dimensions - performance characteristics- component list - description of GNC system- overview of demonstration program - number and type of ests- deployment method (type of aircraft, etc.) - list of measurements- list of test participants (name and phone number) - critical program personnel and background data- critical items and failure modes. Please note that this is not a formal request for proposals. (0299)

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