ZERO GRAVITY SUSPENSION SYSTEMS

FUTURE U.S. AIR FORCE MISSIONS WILL REQUIRE THE DEVELOPMENT OF LARGE FLEXIBLE SPACE STRUCTURES. EARTH-BOUND TEST FACILITIES, SIMULATING THE OUTERSPACE WEIGHTLESS, VACUUM, AND SEVERE HEAT GAIN-LOSS ENVIRONMENT, ARE NECESSARY IN THE R&D OF LIGHTWEIGHT AND FLEXIBLE SPACE STRUCTURAL ENGINEERING DESIGNS. HOWEVER, RECENT ATTEMPTS IN CREATING THE WEIGHTLESS ENVIRONMENT USING VARIOUS METHODS, SUCH AIR FLOORS, HELIUM BALLOONS, AND WATER FLOAT SYSTEMS, HAVE MET WITH LIMITED SUCCESS. NTS PROPOSES AN INNOVATIVE MAGNETIC SUSPENSION SYSTEM TO COUNTERACT THE PULL OF GRAVITY BY PROVIDING CONSTANT UPLIFT TO THE TEST STRUCTURE WHILE KEEPING ADDITIONAL STIFFNESS, VISCOUS DAMPING, AND MATERIAL MASS COUPLED TO THE TEST STRUCTURE TO A MINIMUM LEVEL, FAR BELOW ANY PREVIOUS APPROACH PHASE I WOULD INVOLVE THE ANALYSIS, DESIGN, AND FABRICATION OF THE PROPOSED PROTOTYPE MAGNETIC SUSPENSION SYSTEMS FOR EXPERIMENTAL FEASIBILITY DEMONSTRATION. THE MAGNETIC UPLIFT FORCE VERSUS DISPLACEMENT RELATIONSHIP IS TO BE EXPERIMENTALLY ESTABLISHED. IN CONJUNCTION WITH THE MAGNETIC CONSTANT FORCE SUSPENSION SYSTEM, NTS PROPOSES OTHER INNOVATIVE CONCEPTS FOR A ZERO-GRAVITY VACUUM TEST FACILITY, TO BE STUDIED IN DETAIL DURING THE PHASE II R&D WORK.