Source: www.gizmodo.co.uk
Posted on 10/31/2014 6:23:46 PM PDT by BenLurkin
Participating in the press conference were executives Kevin Mickey, CEO of Scaled Composites, George Whitesides, CEO of Virgin Galactic and Stu Witt, chief executive of Mojave Air and Space Port. They emphasized that the nylon-based rocket fuel and engine had been thoroughly tested on the ground and they were confident of its readiness for in-flight testing.
... Two minutes into the powered flight would have permitted considerable time for SpaceShipTwo to gain altitude and speed. The pilots were not wearing pressure suits, only masks providing supplemental oxygen. At 50,000 feet and more, conditions are equivalent to space, and fluids in the human body begin to boil – turn from liquid to gas. The velocity of the surrounding jetstream upon breakup or ejection would have caused loss of their masks and any oxygen possibly carried with them.
Scaled Composites did not state during the press conference at what altitude the accident occurred. Based on the time of the accident – 2 minutes into powered flight – the vehicle could have been anywhere from 40,000 feet (12 km) to as high as 200,000 feet (60 km).
... SpaceShipTwo does not have ejection seats but is equipped with an escape hatch. The fuselage is fully pressurized for the pilots and planned paying customers. It is not yet determined if the test pilots escaped from the hatch or were thrown from the vehicle after its mid-air breakup.
It is standard practice for any test pilot in an experimental vehicle to be wearing a parachute. SpaceShipTwo would be no exception. Furthermore, being aware of the flight conditions and escaping from a vehicle at high altitude, the chutes very likely had automatic mechanisms to deploy, assuming unconsciousness.
(Excerpt) Read more at universetoday.com ...
No, the new fuel provided more thrust.
Every time I hear about private space flight, I anticipate Chuckie Schumer & his pals trying to ban it. I hope it doesn’t come true now.
Yeah, someone from the flatlands would say that! lol
Source: www.gizmodo.co.uk
With global warming running rampant it is now possible to bail at 150k with only a bikini.
Very sad and depressing back-to-the-drawing-board.
Imagine the disappointment of all the engineers and their co-workers and families.
They all deserve our prayers.
Feelings of guilt are pretty much assured even though everyone knew the risks and took them freely.
space is a dangerous dream
Nobody is lasting more than 6-7 minutes without supplemental O2 at 25k feet.
And the mistakes learned will produce a good launch and rendesvous, that is the way of the Free Market.
RIP, big-thinking guys.
Even the Wright Brothers suffered serious setbacks. Great things are accomplished with great risk.
As was said by liege in post 13 "People climb Mt. Everest without supplemental oxygen. Not very many, but it occurs." It is very rare but Reinhold Messner climbed Everst in 1978 without oxygen. Everest is 29,029 feet.
Tell that to the people who climb Everest without supplemental oxygen.
Wanna bet? It's done every day at the various Air Force hyperbaric chambers. Been there a few times myself.
I’ve been there too and nobody in my class made it past 6:36.......and those 2 guys were so whacked out of their minds that they couldn’t sign their own name to the paper....maybe your class was full of studs....maybe we were at 30k...the card I got says 25k.
My classes were seasoned aviators. Maybe that was the diff. Several of us at could go all day performing complex tasks, checklists, etc. Studs, I guess.
http://www.c-f-c.com/supportdocs/abo4.htm
Average Effective Performance Time for flying
personnel without supplemental oxygen:
15,000 to 18,000 feet ..........30 minutes or more
22,000 feet ...............................5 to 10 minutes
25,000 feet .................................3 to 5 minutes
28,000 feet............................2 1/2 to 3 minutes
30,000 feet .................................1 to 2 minutes
35,000 feet ............................30 to 60 seconds
40,000 feet ............................15 to 20 seconds
45,000 feet ..............................9 to 15 seconds
That’s average. Remember, we’re studs.
That and I live at 7,000 and routinely fly high altitude is 12,500+.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.