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SS1 flight anomalies
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Space Station Commander  
Joined: Sat May 22, 2004 8:59 am
Posts: 578 Location: Zurich 
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 SS1 flight anomalies Posted on: Tue Jun 22, 2004 11:58 amI haven't seen any discussion about the problems SS1 had on the first 100km hop. Is there a thread here somewhere already or can I just start it now?
So what happened? That faring near the rocket nozzle buckled  Like anyone care to speculate on what happened? Excessive vibration? Was it the cause of the "bang" that Mike heard?
Attitude control, I understand things went a little screwy at two different times during the flight. Anyone got any clues there about what happened? _________________ Per aspera ad astra |
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Spaceflight Trainee  
Joined: Mon Jun 14, 2004 6:14 pm
Posts: 42 Location: Florida
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Anomalies Posted on: Tue Jun 22, 2004 1:01 pm Flow fields in supersonic flight can be very complex. No telling what buckled the fairing.
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Moderator 
Joined: Fri Jul 25, 2003 12:06 am
Posts: 147
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Posted on: Tue Jun 22, 2004 2:38 pm I posted a link to the space.com story about it in the latest news thread, but the topic acan run here as well. The best place though would be under the team discussions...
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Spaceflight Participant  
Joined: Tue Jun 22, 2004 3:40 pm
Posts: 78 Location: Birmingham, UK
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Posted on: Tue Jun 22, 2004 3:45 pm More info available on the BBC News Online site:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/3829489.stm Selected quotes: "The craft experienced a serious anomaly between the time its motor ignited and when the vehicle reached the pinnacle of the voyage 100km above the Earth. Pilot Mike Melvill had to use a back-up system to control SpaceShipOne. The Scaled Composites team says there will be no attempt on a $10m space prize until it understands the fault." "Rutan said the team was assessing a sudden roll seconds after SpaceShipOne's motor ignited and a more serious glitch that occurred when Melvill reached the highest peak of his suborbital flight. He was attempting to tweak his altitude by manoeuvring the nose of the plane when the flight control system that operates flaps on the ship's wings failed." "SpaceShipOne, however, is grounded until the team figures out why the flight control system failed" What do you think guys? Regards...Dan |
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Moderator
Joined: Fri Jul 25, 2003 12:06 am
Posts: 147
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Posted on: Tue Jun 22, 2004 4:47 pm I'm not sure what effects flaps have at the peak of the trajectory... Something with the RCS?
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Spaceflight Trainee
Joined: Mon Jun 14, 2004 6:14 pm
Posts: 42 Location: Florida
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BBC Posted on: Tue Jun 22, 2004 7:52 pm Irving wrote: I'm not sure what effects flaps have at the peak of the trajectory... Something with the RCS? For one thing, the BBC writer was obviously not a pilot otherwise he would have understood SpaceShipOne does not flaps and that flaps are used for slowing landing speed not for attitude control. |
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Moderator
Joined: Fri Jul 25, 2003 12:06 am
Posts: 147
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Re: BBC Posted on: Tue Jun 22, 2004 11:45 pm greenmonster wrote: Irving wrote: I'm not sure what effects flaps have at the peak of the trajectory... Something with the RCS? For one thing, the BBC writer was obviously not a pilot otherwise he would have understood SpaceShipOne does not flaps and that flaps are used for slowing landing speed not for attitude control. Yes, my point as well. There are Roll RCS thrusters on the wingtips... |
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Moderator
Joined: Fri Jul 25, 2003 12:06 am
Posts: 147
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Posted on: Wed Jun 23, 2004 12:05 am |
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Space Station Commander
Joined: Sat May 22, 2004 8:59 am
Posts: 578 Location: Zurich
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Posted on: Thu Jun 24, 2004 11:10 am new scientist article cited by Irving wrote: Melvill's first frightening moment on the historic flight came at the very instant he flipped the switch to turn on the hybrid rocket motor. The craft suddenly lurched over 90° to the right, and as soon as he brought it back to level it then rolled 90° to the right. Yowie! ... what happened there? Could Mike have bumped some sort of switch? Stepped on the wrong pedal? _________________ Per aspera ad astra |
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Space Walker  
Joined: Tue Apr 13, 2004 9:42 am
Posts: 191 Location: Cider country, England.
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Posted on: Thu Jun 24, 2004 11:42 am New scientist:The craft suddenly lurched over 90° to the right, and as soon as he brought it back to level it then rolled 90° to the right.
Warning! Warning! Brown alert! 
I wonder why with such a serious problem so early why Astronaut Melville did not abort the run? Perhaps the problems were nothing that an experienced pilot couldn't cope with. _________________ It was like that when I found it. Honest. |
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Space Station Commander
Joined: Sat May 22, 2004 8:59 am
Posts: 578 Location: Zurich
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Posted on: Thu Jun 24, 2004 1:46 pm luke.r wrote: I wonder why with such a serious problem so early why Astronaut Melville did not abort the run? Perhaps the problems were nothing that an experienced pilot couldn't cope with. The article says he was real close to aborting right there, I guess he was figuring "If this flips one more time ..." but it didn't so he just decided to guts it out the rest of the way up ... that's a cool hand luke.r ... I wonder if, during the remainder of the ascent, he told Rutan what happened (it's possible he may have been too busy to comment on much of anything until apogee) ... the question is whether Rutan had an opportunity himself to call for an abort (i.e. did Mike tell him what happened soon enough) or if there was any sort of quick conference about it at all ... Sounds like it all happened so quickly that stabilization was achieved faster than anyone could think much about the anomaly. _________________ Per aspera ad astra |
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Space Station Commander
Joined: Sat May 22, 2004 8:59 am
Posts: 578 Location: Zurich
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slight modification to perception of the first anomaly Posted on: Fri Jun 25, 2004 9:45 am I hope we get Rutan's log report soon, the media seems to be still oscillating around their "facts" ...
www.space.com wrote: At a post-landing press briefing, the 63-year old Melvill described a series of technical snags that haunted his record-setting flight. Right after motor ignition, the pilot said the craft rolled 90 degrees to the left, then 90 degrees to the right. "It has never ever done that before," he explained. Ok so it was left then right, or ... This story is located here ... Private Spaceship Encounters Glitches In Record-Setting Flight _________________ Per aspera ad astra |
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Space Station Commander
Joined: Sat May 22, 2004 8:59 am
Posts: 578 Location: Zurich
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Posted on: Fri Jun 25, 2004 9:46 am _________________ Per aspera ad astra |
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Space Station Commander
Joined: Sat May 22, 2004 8:59 am
Posts: 578 Location: Zurich
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Posted on: Fri Jun 25, 2004 11:43 am Hmm ... the latest log report from scaled (flight 60L/15P) omits reference to any anomaly taking place immediately after ignition. Additionally, there is no mention of the buckled faring.
Perhaps it is too soon for them to make any considered judgement on either of these events. Perhaps we have no business demanding the same transparency that Armadillo spoils us with. Oh well. I think it was a couple of loose M&Ms fouling up the works. _________________ Per aspera ad astra |
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Spaceflight Trainee
Joined: Mon Jun 14, 2004 6:14 pm
Posts: 42 Location: Florida
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Rolls Posted on: Fri Jun 25, 2004 2:39 pm I've been told by someone well placed in the project that wind shear is now the leading candidate as the culprit behind the two 90 degree rolls.
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