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How Virgin Galactic's spaceship pilot survived a 10-mile fall back to Earth
LA Times ^ | Melody Petersen

Posted on 07/29/2015 7:46:05 AM PDT by Mount Athos

It wasn't until SpaceShipTwo was more than 10 miles above the Mojave Desert and had passed through the sound barrier that Siebold noticed something was seriously wrong.

Seconds later, Siebold heard a loud bang and then a sound — like “paper fluttering in the wind” — which he now knows was the rocket plane breaking apart. And suddenly he was plummeting to Earth.

Siebold said he did not see Alsbury prematurely moving a lever that unlocked the ship's movable tail — a mistake that investigators say started the sequence of events that caused it to come apart.

The rocket ship suddenly began bucking violently, Siebold told investigators, and the “G-levels went through the roof.”

He heard that single loud crack and the cabin rapidly depressurized. The last air was sucked from his lungs.

His next memory is of being outside the plane, hearing the high-pitched whistle of the wind. He felt like he was in “a very high slipstream of some kind.” The rocket ship had broken up around him.

He had to work to open his eyes. And when he did, he saw the desert far below.

It felt as if forces were trying to rip off his helmet. The helmet had twisted to the left and his mask was no longer sealed.

He believes he fell in and out of consciousness. It was extremely cold — more than 40 degrees below zero at 30,000 feet and above.

At that point, there was nothing else around him. The cabin was gone. And he was falling through the clouds. Not tumbling, but in a stable position with his head slightly down.

He went into the free-fall position, spreading his arms and legs.

Somewhere between 10,000 and 20,000 feet, his parachute deployed automatically. He said the sudden jolt surprised him

(Excerpt) Read more at latimes.com ...


TOPICS: Miscellaneous; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: aerospace; g42; virgingalactic
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To: sasquatch

It really isn’t a barrier...

+++++++++++++++++

Yeah, but how high is it? Don’t you know?


21 posted on 07/30/2015 6:47:28 AM PDT by loungitude (The truth hurts.)
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To: loungitude

Yeah, it’s up there in the air. It might even be hugh.


22 posted on 07/30/2015 2:44:29 PM PDT by sasquatch
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To: sasquatch

But I heard it’s broken. Do they fly through the hole?


23 posted on 07/30/2015 5:21:29 PM PDT by loungitude (The truth hurts.)
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