Abstract: A module incorporating at least one flat end cap is positioned within the payload of the Space Shuttle or other space vehicle to enhance the capabilities of the payload area. The flat end cap reduces the required volume in the launch vehicle to be occupied by the module and provides for efficient use of the interior space of the Space Shuttle by providing more flat surfaces to which necessary equipment can be fastened. The module is truncated, thus adding another flat surface, i.e., a ceiling, to the interior of the vehicle. The truncated top of the module is capable of separate integration and carries additional experiments within racks which can be attached to its interior surface. The module can be fabricated from aluminum members in an aircraft type fashion of construction, or can be assembled from existing or modified Space Lab hardware.

Abstract: The present helicopter deck makes use of a passive fire-fighting system. Extruded aluminum beams on a base support an upper platform for supporting the helicopter. The support beams provide a space between the base and the upper platform. The upper platform is a grating, which permits fuel to pass through it. The support beam support batts of thin, spaced strips of high-heat conductive material below the upper platform. The support beams also supports deck plates below and spaced from the batts. The material of the batts conducts localized heat from one location of the batts to a more even, lower temperature spread generally through the batts. The deck plates catch fuel that passes through the batts and slopes to cause the fuel to flow away from the deck.

Abstract: A modular spacecraft system adapted for orbital flight is capable of expansion by the connection of at least two substantially identical spacecraft modules, each of which is capable of independent operation. Each spacecraft module comprises a spacecraft body, at least one solar array extendible outwardly from the spacecraft body, and at least one structural interface means for connecting one spacecraft module to another spacecraft module. Methods for deployment of a spacecraft module and for assembly of a modular spacecraft system utilizing a reusable space vehicle are also disclosed.

Abstract: An easily assembled, steerable two-string kite suitable for sailing in light or strong winds having curvature adjusting and maintaining wing members with passed flexible rods to maintain the curvature, a substantially v-shaped frame made of lightweight material and covered with flexible sail material, capable of in-flight maneuvers including maintaining constant speed over a wide angle relative to the ground, direct overhead flight, 90-degree turns relative to the center of the kite, and lift-off from the ground, all without need to adjust or alter the position of the strings affixed to the kite.

Abstract: In the event of an earthquake or fire, important objects like a recording medium used in a location where important information to the outside are relayed or in a location where natural phenomena are observed, are carried away, hanging from an airborne balloon that is inflated and released in response to the mechanical shock of an earthquake or the heat of a fire.

Abstract: An improved aircraft seat is equipped with a special flexible lumbar panel to better and more comfortably support the back of the passenger seated in the aircraft seat. The flexible lumbar panel can be used with different type of reclining chairs but is especially useful with high hinge point aircraft seats. The lumbar panel has a moveable lower end which can be guided by guide members. The upper end of the lumbar panel can be secured to a torque bar.

Abstract: Landing deck for aircraft, in particular for helicopters, on seagoing vessels and offshore installations, such as platforms. When fuel is leaking from a helicopter after an accident, as for instance an unsuccessful landing, a fire often starts. In order to reduce the combustion intensity and the duration of such a fire continuous grooves or channels (8) are formed in beams of steel or metal, of which the deck is made, in the surface facing upwardly. Thereby fuel which has leaked out will be collected in the grooves or channels. The air supply to the grooves or channels is poorer than the air supply to fuel situated on decks without grooves or channels, and the combustion intensity, therefore, is reduced. Moreover, the combustion takes place on the surface of the liquid, and it is possible to drain a substantial part of the fuel without ignition thereof. Fuel may be collected from the grooves or channels by means of a collecting manifold or gutter.

Abstract: Closure systems particularly intended for high speed aircraft and designed with an inwardly opening closure which can be removed during flight. A wheel or roller is provided at the bottom of the closure so that it can be readily moved to an out-of-the-way storage location by a single person. The closure is supported at its lower end by a floor-mounted bracket which can be detached to provide a clear pathway to the doorway which the closure is designed to block.

Abstract: An unmanned aircraft is equipped with a helium-cooled Brayton cycle nuclear reactor. Heated helium gas drives turbines which in turn rotate propellers to maintain the aircraft aloft for a protracted period of time. After the helium gas expands in the turbines, it is passed through a closed loop including radiator tubes which radiate waste heat from the helium gas to space. The cooled helium gas is returned through the closed loop for repeat of the Brayton cycle.

Abstract: An accumulating and transfer unit for handling electronic devices such as integrated circuits (ICs), especially surface mounted devices (SMDs). The unit includes guideways mounted circumferentially around a central shaft between two end plates and is inclined from the horizontal to utilize gravity, in cooperation with the levitation provided by a continuous or pulsed stream of air, to move the parts longitudinally in a column from the raised end of the unit to the lower end. In one embodiment, the guideways consist of a generally U-shaped track mounted on a track support and secured with a locking plate. A pair of longitudinally extending spaced apart walls on the bottom of each track act in cooperation with the track support and the locking plate to form a channel that directs the pulsed air from a supply tube at one end of the channel to a series of spaced apart apertures formed in the bottom wall of the track disposed so that the air acts through the apertures on the ICs held in the track.

Abstract: An automotive vehicle is subject to attitude control input impulses effective only with respect to a roll axis and a selected one of a pitch and yaw axis. A selected and controlled sequencing of roll attitude control allows attitude control also of both the selected one axis and the other of the pitch and yaw axis for the vehicle.

Abstract: A system for deterring subsonic airplane stall-spin entry wherein a highly swept wing tip mounted lifting surface panel 18 (FIGS. 1-3) is attached to the tip of a main wing panel 14 and provides a stabilizing vortex lift to the aircraft at an angle of attack slightly greater than the normal angle of attack used in climbing flight. This vortex lift enhances roll damping at high angles of attack and serves to prevent airplane stall-spin entry. FIG. 4 shows an alternate form of the invention wherein the wing tip mounted lifting surface panel 48 is provided with a forward highly swept leading edge. For sharp leading edges a leading edge sweep for the wing tip mounted lifting surfaces is approximately forty-five degrees while, for blunt leading edge surfaces, a greater degree of sweep is employed to generate the vortex lift.

Abstract: For rescue equipment in a passenger cabin in a vessel especially a helicopter in case of an emergency landing at sea, a line is provided floatable in water and extending to a cabin exit (13), preferably to an exit at each end of the cabin. The floating line is attached to the cabin ceiling (11) by anchoring lines (15) distributed along the length of the floatable line (14).

Abstract: A lighter-than-air craft [10] having an outer envelope [11] divided into an inner envelope [25] and a plurality of compartments [40,41,42]. The compartments are filled with lifting gases such as helium and hydrogen and the overall lifting force of the craft is regulated by supplying hot air to the inner envelope.

Abstract: A system and method for stabilizing an aircraft ejection seat and crew member after seat ejection and prior to main parachute inflation. The system also providing for delayed opening of the main chute until air speed and altitude have decreased to an acceptable parachute inflation range.

Abstract: A dual suction unit and method of operation uses a main tube with a Venturi assembly having a primary suction inlet positioned in the inlet of the main tube and a branch tube joined at its outlet to the mid-portion of the main tube and having a secondary suction inlet at its opposite end. Compressed air flowing through the Venturi assembly induces a primary suction at its suction inlet and a significantly stronger secondary suction at the inlet of the branch tube than known in the prior art. Waste or other matter may be conveyed from separate sources to the respective primary and secondary suction inlets.

Abstract: The inlet of a jet engine is equipped with a pivotally displaceable deflector which becomes deployed when the aircraft is in a stalled, horizontally stabilized condition. As the aircraft undergoes vertical descent, vertically impinging airflow is reflected off the interior surface of the deflector and flows coaxially through the inlet thereby forcing continued rotation of turbine blades. Hydraulic and electronic control devices deriving power from the turbine may be maintained operative even though the aircraft is in a stalled condition, thereby permitting limited horizontal maneuvering of the aircraft as the vertical descent continues.

Abstract: An inflatable hull has an integral nose section comprising an array of trapezoidal fabric sections secured to form a frustro-conical volume. A nose cap is secured to the end of the frustrum with a conical array of tensioned ropes secured at their ends to the hull. The conical volume side walls at the nose taper to the cone axis at an angle such that a vertical load at the nose apex or an axial load on the region of the nose next to the apex does not bend, collapse or otherwise damage the nose section to provide a soft mooring attachment for the aerostat.

Abstract: A fire extinguisher with high speed discharge is provided comprising a container containing an inhibiting liquid which vaporizes when it is expanded and a pressurized gas such as nitrogen. A cover closes the container. An explosive charge tears the cover by a shock wave; it is disposed in the neighborhood of this cover at the end of a pyrotechnical stick coaxial with the container with one end fixed to the bottom thereof. The stick is secured to the side wall of the container by means of a support piece disposed in the vicinity of the opening of the container. This support piece centers the explosive charge along the axis of the container.

Abstract: A turbulence generation inhibitor comprising a fluid conduit having an interior wall surface with the interior wall surface having a plurality of spaced-apart microscopic grooves formed therein which are parallel to the mean-flow direction. Each of the grooves is defined by oppositely disposed side walls with the side walls of each of the grooves having at least one catenary shaped surface provided thereon.