What Is an Escape Tower?

The escape tower, also known as the escape tower, is installed on the top of the spacecraft and consists of a tower, an escape engine, and a separation engine (all solid rocket engines). In an emergency, the escape engine quickly ignites, causing the astronaut cockpit (return capsule) The solid rocket separated, quickly separated from the danger zone, then separated the engine and started to separate the cockpit from the tower so that the cockpit could be safely landed with other recovery systems. ^[1]

The escape tower, also known as the escape tower, is mounted on the top of the spacecraft and looks like a lightning rod on a rocket from a distance. It is very different from the conical head of a normal rocket. It consists of a tower, an escape engine, and a separation engine (all are solid rocket engines). In an emergency, the escape engine ignites quickly, separating the astronaut cockpit (return capsule) from the solid rocket, quickly leaving the danger zone, and then starting the separation engine Separate the cockpit from the tower to allow the cockpit to land safely with other recovery systems. ^[1]

Because the escape tower is installed on the top of the rocket, compared with the traditional separation method, the escape tower has the following characteristics:

(1) The separation of the escape tower is forward separation;

(2) When the escape tower is separated, the core stage is still in working condition and has a large overload;

(3) When the escape tower is separated at a low altitude, the air resistance is large, and the influence of air resistance needs to be considered;

(4) Since the escape tower and the launch vehicle are flying in the same orbit, and the launch vehicle is still accelerating, in order to prevent the escape tower from colliding with the launch rocket, a yaw control engine is added to the escape tower.

On October 27, 2014, the NASA Antar rocket exploded 6 seconds after launch. Relevant people think that their calculations are almost perfect, but they have exploded. The rocket was originally responsible for launching the spacecraft Cygnus spacecraft for resupply service to the International Space Station. According to a NASA video, the rocket suddenly exploded after taking off. The cause of the accident is still unknown.

According to Singapore's "Lianhe Zaobao" reported on November 2, 2014, a new generation of US rockets will be equipped with an escape system so that astronauts have the opportunity to escape in the event of an explosion similar to the recent unmanned rocket launch.

None of NASA's now retired spacecraft have an escape system, because the agency considers these spacecraft to be safe, but this has not proven to be the case. On January 28, 1986, the Challenger spacecraft exploded at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida for more than a minute, killing seven astronauts, and the rocket designer realized that it included the escape system. Importance.

Following the design of the Mercury and Apollo spacecraft in the 1960s, NASA will add a rocket-propelled escape tower on top of the new-generation manned spacecraft Orion. In the event of an accident, Astronauts can use the escape tower to escape the spacecraft in question and land safely. This "interrupted launch system" can be activated in milliseconds and eject the escape capsule beyond 1.6 kilometers in seconds.

"We have confirmed that it is a mistake to have no launch escape system on the spacecraft ... so a lot of work is being done to build a launch escape tower on the Orion spacecraft," said Hale, a former NASA spacecraft project manager.

Hale pointed out: "This is a large and heavy space capsule, which requires a large and heavy rocket to lift off and get rid of the problematic rocket thruster." The Orion spacecraft will perform a mission at a distance of 418 kilometers from Earth Deep space beyond your space station. NASA requires commercial companies responsible for transporting astronauts to the space station to equip their spacecraft with launch escape systems.

Private space exploration technology companies will test a new technology next year to use the capsule's own steering thruster to get it out of a failed rocket. Boeing plans to use a similar thruster to interrupt the flight system on its CST-100 spacecraft.

At present, the Russian "Joint" spacecraft astronauts are equipped with "Apollo" rocket propulsion launch escape towers. During its 47-year flight, the United spacecraft used its escape system once in an emergency.

NASA requires commercial spacecraft to be 1,000 times safer than its original spacecraft. ^[2]