Posted on 10/18/2004 5:56:47 PM PDT by BenLurkin
MOJAVE - Scaled Composites released flight test logs Friday for SpaceShipOne's twin spaceflights to claim the $10 million Ansari X-Prize, detailing the flights that took civilian astronauts Mike Melvill and Brian Binnie beyond the Earth's atmosphere twice in less than a week. The international competition, intended to encourage private space ventures, required a privately funded spacecraft to carry a pilot and the equivalent weight of two passengers to 100 kilometers - 328,000 feet - above the Earth, return safely and repeat the mission within two weeks.
Designed by Burt Rutan and funded by Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen, SpaceShipOne rocketed into the record books as the first privately funded, manned space program to reach suborbital space.
Unveiled in April 2003, SpaceShipOne is air-launched from the White Knight carrier aircraft, then uses a rocket engine to boost it to 100 kilometers - 62.5 miles - above the Earth, where the occupants experience weightlessness and see the blackness of space. Completing an arc, the spacecraft descends to a runway landing, much like a glider.
The 13-month, 17-flight test program included six rocket-powered flights, three of which reached suborbital space.
Two of the program's pilots, Melvill and Binnie, wear the nation's only civilian commercial astronaut wings. Melvill is believed to be the only astronaut to climb to space on consecutive flights, and SpaceShipOne is the only vehicle to reach space twice within five days.
The first of SpaceShipOne's two required prize flights took off from Mojave Airport at 7:12 a.m. on Sept. 29 before thousands of visitors lining the taxiways.
SpaceShipOne traveled to 46,500 feet, strapped to the belly of the White Knight. Once released, pilot Mike Melvill quickly lit the hybrid rocket motor, propelling the spacecraft to more than Mach 2.92, or 2,110 mph.
The 77-second rocket burn was enough to carry the spacecraft to 180,000 feet at burnout, coasting the rest of the way to 337,700 feet, as verified by radar data from Edwards Air Force Base.
The flight took an exciting turn - literally - as it began corkscrewing vertically near the end of the rocket burn. The spacecraft spun at a rate of slightly more than one turn every two seconds, a spin that Melvill later admitted was disorienting.
Because the spacecraft was leaving the denser air of the atmosphere, the traditional control surfaces did not work to correct the spin, only slowing the spin rate slightly.
Melvill was able to stop the spin out of the atmosphere and, after the tail was moved into its vertical "feathered" position using the spacecraft's reaction control jets, was able to correct it before reaching peak altitude.
The reentry and descent were reportedly smooth, reaching a top speed of Mach 3 and forces five times that of gravity. At 61,000 feet, the tail was moved back into its horizontal position and the spacecraft glided 18 minutes to a landing on the same runway from which it took off.
According to Scaled Composites' report, "the rolls near the end of the motor burn certainly got our attention."
Detailed analysis of the flight data in the days that followed identified a previously untested flight condition that produced low stability at high speeds and a high angle of climb.
The unexpected rolling was due in part to Melvill's sharp turn upward as the rocket lit, producing the steep climb angle. To correct the problem for the next flight, pilot Brian Binnie did not pull up as sharply for the rocket burn.
Binnie's flight took off at 6:49 a.m. on Oct. 4 before a larger crowd of spectators and dignitaries in anticipation of the ship's winning the Ansari X-Prize.
This time, SpaceShipOne was released from the White Knight at 47,100 feet, where Binnie quickly lit the rocket motor. The ignition was so quick that Melvill and flight engineer Matt Stinemetze could hear it from inside the White Knight.
The 83-second rocket burn boosted the spacecraft to more than Mach 3.09, or 2,186 mph, carrying it to 213,000 feet at burnout.
SpaceShipOne then coasted to a peak altitude of 367,500 feet, as verified by Edwards radar. This topped the previous unofficial altitude record set by the X-15 rocket plane in 1963 by some 13,000 feet.
Like Melvill before him, Binnie took time at the peak of the flight to snap digital pictures of the view from space, one of which graced the cover of Aviation Week and Space Technology, the industry's bible.
On descent, SpaceShipOne reached Mach 3.25 and peak forces of 5.4 times gravity.
At 51,000 feet, Binnie returned the tail to horizontal, returning to a picture-perfect landing.
The flawless flight was called "a testament to what training and good old-fashioned hard work can do" on the Scaled Composites' flight report.
Ping
Pictures?
One-turn, two-turn, three-turn, *BARF*
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.