Scaled Composities carried out a second drop test of its’ X-ship, the SpaceShipOne, last week. On this flight pilot Melville extended the flight envelope with aileron and rudder control tests at stall. The objectives of the flight were, according to the test report:
Same objectives as the aborted flight 31LC/04GC earlier today. Second glide flight of SpaceShipOne. Flying qualities and performance in the space ship re-entry or “feather” mode. Pilot workload and situational awareness while transitioning and handling qualities assessment when reconfigured. As a glider, stall investigation both at high and low altitude and envelope expansion out to 200 kts and 4 G’s. More aggressive, lateral directional characteristics including adverse yaw, roll rate effectiveness and control, including 360 degree aileron roll, and full rudder side slips.
Each test brings us one step closer to commercial space. If Scaled Composites’ red tape clearance efforts are going equally well we may yet see the first private suborbital space flight during the December centenary of the Wright brothers first flight at Kittyhawk.
Have you seen the asteriod yet boy’s.