Spin Control -- Space Ship One

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propforce

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I saw the (2nd) launch today and did not see the spin on SS1 this time. I'd assume whatever the cause was they've fixed it.<br /><br />Here's AW&ST article on last week's flight<br /><br />"..... SPIN CONTROL <br />Aviation Week & Space Technology <br />10/04/2004, page 28 <br /><br /> <br />Michael A. Dornheim <br />Mojave, Calif. <br /> <br /><br /> <br />SpaceShipOne proved it can meet the altitude/payload requirement of the X-Prize. The next step: do it again by Oct. 13. <br /><br /> <br />Mojave Aerospace Ventures is halfway to winning the suborbital Ansari X-Prize after its flight to 103 km. (337,500 ft.) on Sept. 29, and was planning to finish the task early this week with another flight here above 100 km. by its SpaceShipOne rocket glider.<br /><br />Like the previous flight on June 21, control difficulties kept the apogee roughly 20,000 ft. lower than planned, but nonetheless high enough to just scrape by the 100-km. requirement.<br /><br />Last week's mission demonstrated several things--that the craft can exceed the 100-km. requirement of the X-Prize while carrying a full payload, that it still can be quickly thrown out of control during ascent, but that it's sturdy enough to withstand the gyrations. <br /><br />SpaceShipOne was built by Scaled Composites, which is joined with Microsoft co-founder Paul G. Allen to form Mojave Aerospace Ventures (MAV). MAV is the leading contender to win the X-Prize, which requires reaching 100 km. twice in a two-week period with a piloted reusable spacecraft carrying the weight of three people. Virgin Galactic is helping to sponsor the two X-Prize flights as part of its deal with MAV and Scaled to build a commercial passenger-carrying version of SpaceShipOne (see p. 30). And in the spirit of commercial space, logos for other sponsors, including the M&M candies that the pilot tossed in zero-g on June 21, appeared on the side of the spacecraft. <br /> <br />The rocket glider was dropped from its White Knight mother ship at 8:10 a.m. PD <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> </div>
 
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