Santa Ana Firm to Design NASA Landing System
Posted on: Thursday, 15 June 2006, 12:00 CDT
By Robert Whitfield, The Orange County Register, Calif.
Jun. 12--SANTA ANA -- Irvin Aerospace, a parachute engineering, design and manufacturing company, said it is designing an airbag landing system for the NASA space capsule that will replace the space shuttle.
Irvin, based in Santa Ana, received a $250,000 four-month contract from NASA to complete initial development of the system and plans to bid for a five-year contract worth $2 million, said Gary Calvaneso, vice president of marketing for Irvin Aerospace.
The airbags would underlie the crew exploration vehicle, or space capsule, that will replace the space shuttle and land astronauts on the moon and possibly Mars and other destinations.
Irvin will use an advanced computer modeling system to design the airbags. Engineers will simulate modifications in size and form and demonstrate landings under extreme conditions. At the end of the four-month contract, full-scale demonstration tests may take place at NASA's Langley test facility in Hampton, Va.
NASA will also continue to evaluate other landing systems, including using retro rockets.
Founded in 1919 as the Irving Air Chute Company and renamed Irvin Aerospace in 1976, the company was among the first to manufacture parachutes ordered by the U.S. government. A privately owned corporation with 163 employees, Irvin has designed deceleration and landing systems for the Space Shuttle, Pioneer Venus and Surveyor.
ILC Dover of Frederica, Del., maker of space suits and soldier gas masks, is also bidding for the NASA contract.
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Source: The Orange County Register
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