Posted on 11/14/2014 3:36:52 PM PST by Idaho_Cowboy
The pilot who survived the SpaceShipTwo crash says that his parachute deployed automatically after he was extracted from the vehicle while it broke up. Investigators from the National Transportation Safety Board began interviewing the pilot, Peter Siebold, on Friday, following the ship's crash late last month. He was discharged from the hospital last Monday after being treated for injuries to his shoulder. The NTSB says that Siebold's accounts are consistent with what it's learned from other sources of data, such as video, in its ongoing investigation.
(Excerpt) Read more at theverge.com ...
Not sure who made the motor but most rockets say “Light fuse, get away”.
No pressure suit?!
Isn’t the information that the co-pilot unlocked the wings early and that they were deployed early , new ?
It would seem that deploying (feathering) the ‘wings’ while at 110% of thrust capacity isn’t a good idea. whoda thunk ?
Pretty amazing he ejected at 70,000 and survived without a suit, eh?
Rocket motor not the cause, it did not blow up.
The aircraft suffered an inflight breakup from aerodynamic forces. At this time, the belief is buffeting caused the deep stall tail configuration to prematurely deploy at too low an altitude. It should have still had the mechanical locks securing it, but the co-pilot disengaged them too early.
“This means that it remains unexplained why SpaceShipTwo’s co-pilot began the process of lifting the vehicle’s wings before he was clear to do so. “
Especially since the wings should NEVER be unlocked on the way UP.
Much like lowering the landing gear on the Space Shuttle while it is being launched.
Pretty much.
It would seem that deploying (feathering) the ‘wings’ while at 110% of thrust capacity isn’t a good idea. whoda thunk ?
"What's this button do again?"
No don't touch tha..."
Actually, they are unlocked during ascent and while accelerating, but only after the airspeed has reached Mach 1.4.
The general consensus is that Alsbury unlocked the feathers while the spacecraft was still in the transonic phase instead of after it had reached supersonic flight.
The buffeting of the shockwave is thought to have caused the feathers to prematurely move and aerodynamic loads caused the spacecraft to break up in flight.
Aerodynamic buffeting.
You couldn't fit through the hatch wearing a pressure suit. I read elsewhere it was a design decision. To have the multiple large viewing windows (for use of paying customers) meant there wouldn't be enough structural strength with a larger hatch. So pilots, and future customers, must do without pressure suits. Obviously transparent Aluminum technology isn't yet ready for the big time.
is that the same a flutter?
the motor had nothing to do with it
Per the article the wing feathering system unlocked early making it an unaerodynamic and it broke up
So... had they been locked, this wouldn’t have happened.
Why do they unlock them ?
I’m no expert, but I thought that the ‘feathering’ of the wing structure was used to slow the craft down during re-entry.
Not really. Flutter is an unstable oscillation in the airflow over a control surface and is usually happens when the control surface isn't balanced at the hinge line. This causes the aerodynamic forces (pressure) to build up and then be released. Think of the Tacoma-Narrows Bridge.
Mach buffet is caused by the airflow on the top surface of the wing reaching supersonic speeds. The airflow behind the subsequent 'shock wave' becomes turbulent, rather like pre stall buffet.
Correct. More specifically, had they been locked during the transonic phase of the flight, this wouldn't have happened.
Why do they unlock them ?
From what I've read, they unlock them early in the ascent so they're available in the event of an abort.
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