Zodiac Parachute & Protection America, which was bought by Safran in 2018,
has been operating in Columbia for more than 50 years and plans to remain for
generations to come. The business primarily operates on government contracts,
despite its origin as a company making uniforms. While the company produces
everything to do with airplanes ranging from engines to refreshment carts, seats
and safety slides, the Columbia office specializes is building parachutes and the
harnesses which support parachutes. The Columbia office of 163 team members
physically sew 90% of everything that goes into making a parachute; 90-95% of
what Zodiac does is sewing, which is almost a lost art! The Columbia office is
proud of manufacturing the parachute for the NASA InSight Mars lander which
set down on the Red Planet on November 26, 2018.
Rocketman Enterprise, Inc., of Bloomington, MN designs and manufactures
the parachutes used for the recovery of small scientific payloads and weather-type
balloons from high altitude flights. The parachutes come with a loop sewn on the
apex of the chute that is used to attach it to the base of the balloon. The payload
hangs from the risers of the open parachute. Rocketman parachutes have proven
themselves many hundreds of times. They are made of low-porosity 1.1 rip-stop
Nylon, and come in sizes up to 5.5 m (18 ft) in diameter.
During the descent of a high altitude balloon, the parachute normally opens at
about 18.4 km (60,000 ft) when there is sufficient air in the atmosphere to open the
canopy. In many cases it will drift for 160 km (100 mi), and take an hour to
descend. Rocketman provides a parachute release control unit which enables the
operator to choose the altitude at which the parachute will open. It is compatible
with any type of parachute.
3.3 INSTRUMENT CARRIERS/GONDOLAS
3.3.1 CSBF
Gondolas
The gondolas used for scientific balloons are not like the ones used by Auguste
Piccard, nor do they resemble the boats of the Venetian canals. In effect they are
just carriers of the instruments hung from a balloon. They can be very specialized
or generalized for multiple instruments. They are often supplied by NASA/CSBF
but may be built by the principal investigator’s university. They typically consists
of a square metal structure to carry the instrument and all the balloon’s associated
systems, such as the command data module (CDM), instrument support structure
(ISS), solar array panel support system, antenna support systems, ballast hopper,
and crush pads. Gondolas are fabricated to NASA’s balloon flight requirements,
taking into consideration the nominal shock of parachute opening at termination
and the ground impact at landing. The design also considers the need to recover
the instruments and support systems using minimal tools at a remote site.
3.3 Instrument Carriers/Gondolas 41
has been operating in Columbia for more than 50 years and plans to remain for
generations to come. The business primarily operates on government contracts,
despite its origin as a company making uniforms. While the company produces
everything to do with airplanes ranging from engines to refreshment carts, seats
and safety slides, the Columbia office specializes is building parachutes and the
harnesses which support parachutes. The Columbia office of 163 team members
physically sew 90% of everything that goes into making a parachute; 90-95% of
what Zodiac does is sewing, which is almost a lost art! The Columbia office is
proud of manufacturing the parachute for the NASA InSight Mars lander which
set down on the Red Planet on November 26, 2018.
Rocketman Enterprise, Inc., of Bloomington, MN designs and manufactures
the parachutes used for the recovery of small scientific payloads and weather-type
balloons from high altitude flights. The parachutes come with a loop sewn on the
apex of the chute that is used to attach it to the base of the balloon. The payload
hangs from the risers of the open parachute. Rocketman parachutes have proven
themselves many hundreds of times. They are made of low-porosity 1.1 rip-stop
Nylon, and come in sizes up to 5.5 m (18 ft) in diameter.
During the descent of a high altitude balloon, the parachute normally opens at
about 18.4 km (60,000 ft) when there is sufficient air in the atmosphere to open the
canopy. In many cases it will drift for 160 km (100 mi), and take an hour to
descend. Rocketman provides a parachute release control unit which enables the
operator to choose the altitude at which the parachute will open. It is compatible
with any type of parachute.
3.3 INSTRUMENT CARRIERS/GONDOLAS
3.3.1 CSBF
Gondolas
The gondolas used for scientific balloons are not like the ones used by Auguste
Piccard, nor do they resemble the boats of the Venetian canals. In effect they are
just carriers of the instruments hung from a balloon. They can be very specialized
or generalized for multiple instruments. They are often supplied by NASA/CSBF
but may be built by the principal investigator’s university. They typically consists
of a square metal structure to carry the instrument and all the balloon’s associated
systems, such as the command data module (CDM), instrument support structure
(ISS), solar array panel support system, antenna support systems, ballast hopper,
and crush pads. Gondolas are fabricated to NASA’s balloon flight requirements,
taking into consideration the nominal shock of parachute opening at termination
and the ground impact at landing. The design also considers the need to recover
the instruments and support systems using minimal tools at a remote site.
3.3 Instrument Carriers/Gondolas 41