Thursday, October 25, 2018

dandelion parachute


This article inspired me of a possible new type of parachute:
https://newatlas.com/dandelion-flight/56868/

"According to the researchers, the dandelion's seeded form is four times more efficient in maintaining altitude than a human-made parachute.
Remarkably, the air bubble is actually made more stable as air flows through it. "



It could be worth trying of such parachute design:

Spring-unfoldable rim (like you might see on baskets) form a set of rings (to prevent fabric collapsing).  Set of straps keep the v (or better U) shape and the slits allow air to go through to stabilize the air bubble.
The number of "circlechutes" should be more than three and probably an internal extra ring or diagonal X bars to support the U shape is also needed.

It doesn't look drastically better than existing parachutes, however, some aspects (if it works at all) could be in use:  more stable descent or more precise in windy conditions, smaller visible area, where an initial mass of the system is not critical (military, or rescue in dense landing).
Not sure about mass-to-value (mass is very critical) for rockets, but could be also worth thinking as an extra saver for 1st stage descent  (the rims with split fabric located around the trunk) or rocket cowl (inside):

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