Orion Crew Member Injury Predictions during Land and Water Landings
Publication: Journal of Aerospace Engineering
Volume 22, Issue 3
Abstract
A review of astronaut whole body impact tolerance is discussed for land or water landings of the next generation manned space capsule named Orion. LS-DYNA simulations of Orion capsule landings are performed to produce a low, moderate, and high probability of injury. The paper evaluates finite-element (FE) seat and occupant simulations for assessing injury risk for the Orion crew and compares these simulations to whole body injury models commonly referred to as the Brinkley criteria. The FE seat and crash dummy models allow for varying the occupant restraint systems, cushion materials, side constraints, flailing of limbs, and detailed seat/occupant interactions to minimize landing injuries to the crew. The FE crash test dummies used in conjunction with the Brinkley criteria provides a useful set of tools for predicting potential crew injuries during vehicle landings.
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Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Journal of Aerospace Engineering
Volume 22 • Issue 3 • July 2009
Pages: 214 - 221
Copyright
© 2009 ASCE.
History
Received: Jun 12, 2008
Accepted: Jan 22, 2009
Published online: Jun 15, 2009
Published in print: Jul 2009
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