Benefits and Impacts Obsolescence Reduction Risk Reduction Safety Improvement Cost Reduction

1. Design Occupant Seat Cocoon Area(s) of Significant Benefit Safety Performance Sustainability Operations Infrastructure • Description • The occupant seat cocoon is a deployable rigid energy absorber that would encapsulate the seat and occupant providing protection when all other systems fail. • The deployment of the system may be performed manually or automatically. Automatic deployment would be based on shuttle sensor feedback. • Like an airbag, the lightweight system occupies a relatively small space when packed and can be stored in various places, such as the back of the seat, in the floor, etc. • Unlike an airbag, the system is rigid, with superior shear strength and stiffness, is rate and impact shape insensitive, and does not rely on gas generation to stay deployed. • Technologies and Capabilities • Project would utilize the expertise in design, fabrication and testing of landing energy management system for air and space. • State of the art fabrication facilities can accommodate all fabrication needs of prototype structures and systems. • Langley’s Impact Dynamics Research Facility(IDRF) personnel lead research in non-linear transient dynamics analysis and human survivability. • Langley’s unique IDRF, full-scale crash facility, provides resource for system assessment in various crash landing configurations. Instrumentation, anthropomorphic test devices (crash dummies), hardened data acquisition and expertise in impact testing are available. Benefits and Impacts Obsolescence Reduction Risk Reduction Safety Improvement Cost Reduction Process Improvement Other (Ultra-High Operations Improvement Reliability) Performance Enhancement • POC, Cost, Schedule and Maturity • TRL 5 - FY06 Manual Cocoon; TRL 4 - FY08 Automatic Cocoon • POC: Sotiris Kellas (757)864-4150, Lisa E. Jones (757)864-4148 • After being deployed manually or automatically, the system can be repacked and reused. Manual system can be available before the automatic system. • In the event of shuttle breakup, the system can serve as a shield against aerodynamic forces, and/or offer buoyancy in water impacts. • Reduction in Criticality 1 Failure Rate of 20%

2. Design Occupant Seat Cocoon • Total Project Costs: $ 50 M • Obsolescence & Feasibility: $ 9 M • Formulation: $ 14M • Implementation: $ 27 M • Project Submitted By: Sotiris Kellas (757)864-4150,Lisa E. Jones (757)864-4148 • Note: Supplemental Information attached in MS Word document