Apollo 15 main-parachute failure

In the investigation of the failure of one of the three main parachutes of the Apollo 15 spacecraft, which collapsed at approximately 1825 meters after operating properly from deployment at 3050 meters, three conditions considered to be possible causes of the failure were produced. The suspect conditions were the proximity of the forward heat shield that passed the spacecraft at approximately 1825 meters, the dumping of the reaction control system hypergolic propellants at approximately 1825 meters, and the failing of a riser link found on a recovered parachute. (The failed parachute was not recovered). The remaining two parachutes functioned as planned and averted a catastrophic failure. The conclusions concerning the cause of the failure are discussed

Snap-8 mercury corrosion and materials research, volume iii topical report, jun. 1960 - dec. 1962

SNAP-8 materials research - mercury corrosion capsule tests of ferritic alloys for mass transfer, stress corrosion, mode of attack, and mechanical propertie

Lateral Stability and Control Measurements of a 0.0858-Scale Model of the Lockheed XF-104 Airplane at Transonic Speeds

An investigation of the lateral stability and control effectiveness of a 0.0858-scale model of the Lockheed XF-104 airplane has been conducted in the Langley 16-foot transonic tunnel. The model has a low aspect ratio, 3.4-percent-thick wing with negative dihedral. The horizontal tail is located on top of the vertical tail. The investigation was made through a Mach number range of 0.80 to 1.06 at sideslip angles of -5 deg. to 5 deg. and angles of attack from 0 deg. to 16 deg. The control effectiveness of the aileron, rudder, and yaw damper were determined through the Mach number and angle-of-attack range. The results of the investigation indicated that the directional stability derivative was stable and that positive effective dihedral existed throughout the lift-coefficient range and Mach number range tested. The total aileron effectiveness, which in general produced favorable yaw with rolling moment, remained fairly constant for lift coefficients up to about 0.8 for the Mach number range tested. Yawing-moment effectiveness of the rudder changed little through the Mach number range. However, the yaw damper effectiveness decreased about 30 percent at the intermediate test Mach numbers