SpaceShipOne - One step closer to the X Prize

Aviation Week and Space Technology ^ | Sept 1, 2003 | Aviation Week and Space Technology

[Young Werther]

The first "feather" conversion of Scaled Composites' SpaceShipOne rocket plane was achieved during its second gliding flight on Aug. 27 (AW&ST Aug. 18, p. 32). Officials plan to make the first showing of inflight video at the Society of Experimental Test Pilots (SETP) symposium in Los Angeles Sept. 25-27 (www.setp.org).

After being dropped from its mother ship at 48,200 ft. and 105 kt., pneumatic actuators raised SpaceShipOne's aft wing and tail booms up to a 65-deg. angle, placing the vehicle in a high-drag angle of attack of about 70 deg. in a near-vertical descent exceeding 10,000 fpm. This high-drag configuration is intended to slow the rocket plane in the upper atmosphere as it returns from a 100-km. (328,000-ft.) vertical space journey.

The body attitude initially pitched up steeply as the tails continued to fly straight, then slowly dropped to near horizontal as the flight path fell. The pitchup caused the most "pucker factor" of the flight. "It didn't seem like it was going to fall away," general manager and test pilot Mike Melvill said. There was some rolloff during the feather entry but it was easily controlled and he felt any residual angle would be damped out by the stable configuration. He reported that rudders were most effective in turning the aircraft but differential elevator (aileron) also had an effect, and that normal elevator had little effect on the stable flight path. There was buffeting, which was expected. Indicated airspeed was about 60 kt.

After about 70 sec., Melvill commanded the actuators to return the vehicle back to normal glider configuration, which made the nose drop about 30 deg. below the horizon and airspeed increase to 120-125 kt., at which point the feather downlock was actuated. The feather maneuver was started at 43,000 ft. and 90 kt., and ended at 30,000 ft. It was preceded by a full stall test, which showed a 70-kt. stall speed at 19-deg. angle of attack at a forward center-of-gravity light weight with no propellant on board.

The remainder of the busy 10.5-min. flight included expanding the envelope to 200 kt. and 3.4g, and performing a 360-deg. roll. A wind shift prompted a change in landing runway from 30 to 12, which was handled readily by the avionics providing guidance to the new high key point. The winds shifted again, giving a slight tailwind on final, and Melvill used the brakes for the first time on rollout, reporting that they had good directional control.

[Young Werther]

I subscribe so I can access the magazine on line. The entire piece is included above under the fair use standards upon which FreeRepublic operates. All in all we are seeing something unlike anything since Lucky Lindy!

[Leroy S. Mort]

Odd lookin' bird(s).

[Leroy S. Mort]

Reentry configuration:

[Young Werther]

Thanks for the great pics! They add pizzaz to an otherwise pedestrian post!

[The_Victor]

Ping for your space list

[RightWhale]

With the tail raised at 100 knots, the airplane flies nearly ballistic. What about when it returns from 100 kilometers? Will it be so controllable at a much higher speed?

[Frankss]

The thing is funny looking,but an American private enterprise getting into the space travel bussiness is fantastic!

[Brett66]

Nice, I can't wait to see this thing actually reach space.

[Leroy S. Mort]

Will it be so controllable at a much higher speed?

You have my personal guarantee (laughing.....).

[Phsstpok]

Odd lookin' bird(s).

For Rutan that's par for the course. I love his work.

[KevinDavis]

Go Burt Go!

Space Ping! This is the space ping list! Let me know if you want on or off this list!

[WestPacSailor]

Will it be so controllable at a much higher speed?

Nope, drops like a rock. Same principal as the early capsule reentries. Gravity does all the work.

[WestPacSailor]

Odd lookin' bird(s).

LOL! I checked the wording on the x-prize...doesn't say nuthin' 'bout pretty.

[irv]

Will it be so controllable at a much higher speed?

From the article:

The body attitude initially pitched up steeply as the tails continued to fly straight, then slowly dropped to near horizontal as the flight path fell.

I would worry very much about stability at higher speeds. Still, it's a promising start.

[RightWhale]

drops like a rock

So they'll just ride it down until wind resistance slows it to 100 knots or whatever, then drop tail and fly it to the runway? Seems like the major danger is that it might begin to spin.

[WestPacSailor]

Although space flight seems routine to us now, it wasn't so long ago that it was the realm of the unknown and still quite dangerous. I place the test pilot, Mike Melvill, in the same category as Yeager, Shepard, Gagarin, Bob Hoover, and the rest of the Right Stuff crowd. Big brass set of cojones!

[WestPacSailor]

So they'll just ride it down until wind resistance slows it to 100 knots or whatever, then drop tail and fly it to the runway?

I think that is essentially the plan. I'm sure there are plenty of computers controlling the whole deal. It's ugly, but the Rutan bros. are known for reliable designs.

[KevinDavis]

I still have dreams of going into space. The bad part it is not going to happen :(

[Moose4]

I love this. It's great to see private enterprise unleashed on space exploration...it will fill in the gaps that NASA cannot or will not, and is much more agile technically (somebody like Rutan can bring things from design to realspace a lot faster than a bloated government agency like NASA).

}:-)4

[RightWhale]

I still have dreams of going into space.

Unfortunately it seems that earth has no intention of developing solar system resources anytime soon. For $20 million you can get a few low orbits, but that doesn't grant even celebrity status anymore. Aside from LEO, there won't be many people in space for a long time to come. A few on the moon and even fewer on Mars, but that's it. Rutans are a long way from achieving private orbit, and that is the best bet of the common man.