TAAS Company Discuss "Modular Escape Cabin"

I recently had the pleasure of doing an article on “Modular Escape Cabins”; a concept adopted by Robert Talmage at “TAAS Company” (http://www.taascompany.com). Robert Talmage plans to use a modular cabin which can leave the parent vehicle in an emergency, the escape cabin can then glide back down to land safely.

I got talking with Mr Talmage again, this time we looked at the current state of escape systems in the emerging private space sector; we also looked at his system in more depth.

The emerging commercial spaceflight sector’s success will depend heavily on how organizations learn to cope with risks. Safety is an issue at the forefront of every organization’s thoughts; a large scale disaster could mean that a company potentially has to seize working, while on a larger scale it could put the entire sector back months or years. These risks need to be kept in the minds of commercial aerospace companies. There was a stark reminded during 2007 when a dangerous explosion killed three people during a flowing test of nitrous oxide for SpaceShipTwo at the Mojave Air & Space Port. Although this explosion didn’t happen in the air, it still acted to remind us all of just how dangerous this work is.

Mr Talmage and I got talking further about his plans to improve safety, the discussion got into some depth, please read the following Q&A session below.

Concentrating on risk factors I asked Mr Talmage what he sees as the major risk factor facing new space activities, he tells me:

Flight safety issues have crippled NASA and other large governmental programs for years and represent the major threat to new space activities. Since a large component of the new space market is tourist, flight safety directly impacts their marketability irregardless of regulatory issues. Unfortunately, very few private space ventures which have disclosed their vehicles to carry space tourist have an escape system. TAAS Company designed the modular escape cabin to satisfy the flight safety needs for space vehicles, as well as military aircraft.

How does your escape system satisfy these flight safety needs?

Ejection seats are not suitable for escape at extreme altitudes and not practical for vehicles carrying more than two people. The only practical solution is separating the cabin containing passengers from the disabled aircraft and landing the cabin by parachute.

Has something like this been done before?

Yes, escape cabins have been used before on aircraft such as the B-58A,
F-111, X-2, B-1A prototype and some others.

Why didn’t these new space vehicles use one of these systems?

These earlier escape cabins were designed for atmospheric separation. They did not offer a method to decelerate and recover from an extreme altitude or space environment.
Weight is a critical factor in space vehicles; therefore, the weight penalties associated with an escape system would reduce payload and revenue.
Some other major issues associated with these prior escape cabins would be the cost, risks and certification relating to the complex components and systems with these escape systems.

How is your escape cabin different from earlier systems?

The main difference is how our escape cabin can glide after separation to re-enter from space, decelerate and select the most desirable location to deploy its parachute and land. Another significant difference is how our escape cabin attaches to the parent vehicle. We were invited to present this technology at the 15th AIAA International Space Planes and Hypersonic Systems and Technologies Conference in Dayton, Ohio May 1, 2008
(AIAA Paper # 2008-2659).

What is the main difference in your attachment technique vs prior escape cabins?

Earlier escape cabins were rigidly attached to the parent vehicle. For instance, the F-111 used incendiary techniques to burn through the structural members connecting the escape cabin and parent vehicle. These methods required complex systems and imposed both additional risk and weight penalties.

Our technique is a modular escape cabin which plugs into the parent vehicle (Aircraft Escape Cabin, US patent # 6,776,373). This enables one simple mechanical latch to hold the escape cabin in place. In an emergency, the simple fail-safe mechanical release allows the escape cabin to separate from the parent vehicle. Air bags provide positive separation forces and electrical connections between the escape cabin and parent vehicle simply un-plug after separation.

This modular system you describe, would it integrate well with the different vehicles we see being developed?

Yes, it would be relatively easy to design the pressurized passenger module as a modular section of the parent vehicle. The modular technique also lends itself to other desirable features such as interchangeable modular sections which may be configured for payloads rather than passengers. The modular design also offers economical benefits in terms of manufacturing, operations, maintenance, repairs and training. Operators of conventional and military aircraft have expressed considerable interest in these modular features not related to recovery.

Is this concept applicable to vertical launch vehicles?

Yes, the same plug-in attachment technique solves the same attachment issues with Apollo style capsules. The most recent problems with the failure of the Soyuz capsule to completely separate illustrates one aspect of these safety problems.

Have you demonstrated this modular escape cabin?

As I mentioned, the basic concept of separating an escape cabin has been successfully demonstrated multiple times. Our attachment technique is very simple and easy to demonstrate. The success of lifting bodies has demonstrated how a small aerodynamic cabin with flight surfaces can glide and re-enter the atmosphere. In the before mentioned AIAA paper, we outline a proposal to modify an existing aircraft to demonstrate this concept for an estimated cost of four million dollars. The paper illustrates how this concept can be demonstrated multiple times by recovering both the escape cabin and parent vehicle. Once the escape cabin has been adequately demonstrated, the same vehicle is proposed to be outfitted with rocket engines and utilized as a space flight test vehicle.

The Space Fellowship would like to thank Robert Talmage for his time and we wish him the best of luck developing his system. We look forward to hearing updates as the project progresses.

Read the previous article Here

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Please feel free to discuss Robert Talmage’s Q&A session further in the forum or chat…