USA As Represented by Secretary of the Navy

Adam Thurn

Joseph A Carroll

Eugene Levin

Paul Oppenheimer

Robert W Baldauff

Jordan R Schlater

Ivan Galysh

Shannon Coffey

Curt Hogan

Ronald L Sutton

Philip A Feerst

Stephen M Koss

A twist capsule rotary joint system for passing a fluid through a pressure hull without a dynamic seal. A rotating cylindrical drum positioned outboard of the pressure hull is adapted to be driven in a reciprocating manner through an angle and backward through the same angle. At least one outboard pressure line or hose has a first end attached to a fixed connector that extends through the pressure hull near and radially outward of the rotating cylindrical drum. A second end of the outboard pressure line or hose is attached to a connector that extends through the top outboard surface of the drum. As the drum rotates, the pressure line wraps around the drum, or unwraps from the drum. In an exemplary embodiment, two pressure lines carry two-phase coolant through the pressure hull of a spacecraft in support of a rotating radiator that is adapted to rotate to present a minimum surface area toward the sun.

Flexible pressure line twist capsule rotary union for steerable spacecraft radiator

A burn wire release mechanism for a spacecraft or other system having two masses initially held together by a pretensioned loop, with a spring configured to push the masses apart. The burn wire release system includes at least one burn wire held in contact with the pretensioned loop material. When an electrical current flows through the burn wire, the wire heats up and severs the pretensioned loop, and the masses are pushed apart by the spring.

Burn wire release mechanism for spacecraft and terrestrial applications

A tethered spacecraft has a first endmass and a second endmass with a telescoping stacer spring and a tether arranged between the endmasses. The spring is coiled around a center rod and initially contained within a housing, the spring being biased to push the first endmass away from the second endmass. The spring housing is affixed to the first endmass, a first end of the spring being affixed to the spring housing, and tether are affixed to spring at one end and to the second endmass at the other end. A pretensioned loop holds the endmasses abuttingly together, and a burnwire release mechanism cuts the loop to deploy the spring. Upon deployment, the spring extends to its full length to form a cylindrical boom, and the endmasses continue to move outward along the spring centerline until stopped by the tether.

Separation system and burn wire release mechanism for tethered spacecraft

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Washington, DC, United States of America

Adam Thurn