As reported by Discovery: It wasn't SpaceShipTwo’s hybrid rocket motor -- which was flying on
Friday with a new type of fuel -- that caused the fatal crash, the head
of the accident investigation agency said late Sunday.
The ship’s fuel tanks and its engine were recovered intact, indicating there was no explosion.
“They showed no signs of burn-through, no signs of being
breached,” Christopher Hart, acting chairman of the National
Transportation and Safety Board, told reporters at the Mojave Air and
Space Port in Mojave, Calif.
“The engine burn was normal up until the extension of the feathers,” said Hart.
Normally, the feather system wouldn't be unlocked until the
rocket-powered spaceship is moving about Mach 1.4, or 1.4 times faster
than the speed of sound.
Instead, the co-pilot moved the lever from locked to unlock when the spaceship was traveling at about Mach 1, Hart said.
In addition to the possibility of pilot error, Hart said the
NTSB is looking into a variety of other issues that may have caused or
contributed to the accident, including training, spacecraft design and
the safety culture at Virgin Galactic and Scaled Composites, which
designed and manufactured the spaceship.
“There is much more that we don’t know and our investigation is far from over,” Hart said.
SpaceShipTwo took off on Friday morning for what was expected to be
its fourth powered test flight. It was released as planned from its
carrier jet at an altitude of about 45,000 feet. Seconds later, the
spaceship’s hybrid motor, which was using a new plastic propellant,
powered up.
About nine seconds later, the ship’s feathering system was
unlocked, said Hart. Two seconds after that, the ship’s tail section
moved toward the deployed position.
“Shortly after the feathering occurred, the telemetry data terminated and the video data terminated,” he said.
Debris was scattered over a five-mile area north of the spaceport, indicating the spaceship broke apart in flight.
About 800 people already have paid or put down deposits to fly
on SpaceShipTwo. Virgin Galactic hoped to begin passenger service next
year. The company's second ship is about 65 percent complete.
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