VSS Enterprise tests (Update)

[Dr Mordrid]

Aviation Week article.....

Discusses the speeding up of glude tests, flight envelope expansion etc.

Interesting is that SS2's RocketMotorTwo (RM2) is also being used (in pairs) in Sierra Nevada's Dream Chaser orbital spaceplane. They are made by SpaceDev, a Sierra Nevada subsidiary.

[Dr Mordrid]

First test of SS2's feathered re-entry wing configuration -



OnOrbit article....

Early on Wednesday 4th May 2011, in the skies above Mojave Air and Spaceport CA, SpaceShipTwo, the world's first commercial spaceship, demonstrated its unique reentry 'feather' configuration for the first time.

This test flight, the third in less than two weeks, marks another major milestone on the path to powered test flights and commercial operations.

SpaceShipTwo (SS2), named VSS Enterprise, has now flown solo seven times since its public roll-out in December 2009 and since the completion of its ground and captive -carry test program.

This latest flight saw a 6:43AM (local) runway take off for VSS Enterprise, attached to its WhiteKnightTwo (WK2) carrier aircraft, VMS Eve. At the controls of the of the spaceship were Scaled Composites' test pilots Pete Siebold and Clint Nichols whilst Mark Stucky, Brian Maisler and Brandon Inks crewed the purpose built, all composite, twin fuselage WK2.

After a 45 minute climb to the desired altitude of 51,500 feet, SS2 was released cleanly from VMS Eve and established a stable glide profile before deploying, for the first time, its re-entry or "feathered" configuration by rotating the tail section of the vehicle upwards to a 65 degree angle to the fuselage. It remained in this configuration with the vehicle's body at a level pitch for approximately 1 minute and 15 seconds whilst descending, almost vertically, at around 15,500 feet per minute, slowed by the powerful shuttlecock-like drag created by the raised tail section. At around 33,500 feet the pilots reconfigured the spaceship to its normal glide mode and executed a smooth runway touch down, approximately 11 minutes and 5 seconds after its release from VMS Eve.

All objectives for the flight were met and detailed flight data is now being analysed by the engineers at Scaled Composites, designers and builders of Virgin Galactic's sub-orbital spacecraft.

George Whitesides, CEO and President of Virgin Galactic, said: "This morning's spectacular flight by VSS Enterprise was its third in 12 days, reinforcing the fast turnaround and frequent flight-rate potential of Virgin Galactic's new vehicles. We have also shown this morning that the unique feathering re-entry mechanism, probably the single most important safety innovation within the whole system, works perfectly. This is yet another important milestone successfully passed for Virgin Galactic, and brings us ever closer to the start of commercial operations. Credit is due to the whole Scaled team, whose meticulous planning and great skill are changing the course of history." Pete Siebold, who along with Clint Nichols piloted the spaceship added:

"In all test flight programs, after the training, planning and rehearsing, there comes the moment when you have to go up there and fly it for real. This morning's flight was a test pilot's dream. The spaceship is a joy to fly and the feathered descent portion added a new, unusual but wonderful dynamic to the ride. The fact that it all went to plan, that there were no surprises and that we

Wing Feathering for Re-Entry

Perhaps the most innovative safety feature employed by SpaceshipOne and now SpaceShipTwo is the unique way it returns into the dense atmosphere from the vacuum of space. This part of space flight has always been considered as one of the most technically challenging and dangerous and Burt Rutan was determined to find a failsafe solution which remained true to Scaled Composite's philosophy of safety through simplicity. His inspiration for what is known as the feathered re-entry was the humble shuttlecock, which like SpaceShipTwo relies on aerodynamic design and laws of physics to control speed and attitude.

Once out of the atmosphere the entire tail structure of the spaceship can be rotated upwards to about 65o. The feathered configuration allows an automatic control of attitude with the fuselage parallel to the horizon. This creates very high drag as the spacecraft descends through the upper regions of the atmosphere. The feather configuration is also highly stable, effectively giving the pilot a hands-free re-entry capability, something that has not been possible on spacecraft before, without resorting to computer controlled fly-by-wire systems. The combination of high drag and low weight (due to the very light materials used to construct the vehicle) mean that the skin temperature during re-entry stays very low compared to previous manned spacecraft and thermal protection systems such as heat shields or tiles are not needed. During a full sub-orbital spaceflight, at around 70,000ft following re-entry, the feather lowers to its original configuration and the spaceship becomes a glider for the flight back to the spaceport runway.
>

[Dr Mordrid]

Follow on report from VG -

Flight Test Legend:

GF = Glide Flight
P = Powered Flight
GC = Aborted Glide Flight

Flight: 58 / GF07
Date: 4 May 11
Flight Time: 11 min, 5 sec
SS2 Pilot: Siebold
SS2 CoPilot: Nichols
GS Crew: Binnie, Tighe, Bassett, Verderami, Kalogiannis, Persall, Zeitlin, Glaser, Knupp, Cassebeer

Objectives:

Feather evaluation
Evaluate stability and control
Flutter susceptibility testing
Pilot proficiency

Results:

All objectives achieved....Awesome flight!

[Dr Mordrid]

First feathered flight (YouTube)....

Feather is folding the rear of SS2's wings up into the re-entry position, letting the spacecraft orient itself for a hands-off re-entry, then putting them back into the flight position. During powered flights the feather would be done at ~450,000 feet then put back down at ~70,000 feet for landing.

[Dr Mordrid]

SS2 is getting nose strakes, small deployable flippers, to mitigate that slight oscillation in feather mode that showed in the video.

This same feature was added to an F-18 NASA used for high angle of attack research. No photos yet, but they should look like smaller versiobs of the canard airfoils you see on Eurofighter (bottom) and other Scaled Composites designs.

This is why you do extended flight tests.

Aviation Week....

Scaled ipdate....

Flight: 61/GF10
Date: 25 May 11
Flight Time: 10 min, 14 sec
SS2 Pilot: Stucky
SS2 CoPilot: Binnie
GS Crew: Nichols, Verderame, Bassett, Bozarth, Persall, Glaser, Inks, Tighe

Objectives:

Second feather flight
Evaluate feather configuration stability with nose strakes installed
Low altitude flutter envelope expansion
Shortened runway approach and landing validation

Results:

All objectives achieved. Much improved longitudinal dynamics in the feather configuration.

Eurofighter -

[Dr Mordrid]

If you zoom in on the nose of SS2 in the latest landing pic you can see the new triangular strakes (winglets) just in front of the main wings.

Landing pic


+ crop, zoom & contrast

[Dr Mordrid]

SS2 flight testing is halted while the rocket engine is being installed, but WK2 is still flying:

Flight: 69
Date: 11 Aug 11
Flight Time: 2.1 hr
WK2 Pilot: Stucky
WK2 CoPilot: Nichols
WK2 FTE: Reid
GS Crew: Tighe, Glaser, Persall, Siebold, and Inks

Objectives:

Engine fuel inlet cooler performance testing
Flutter susceptibility data collection
Anti-Skid operational check and data collection

Results:

All objectives achieved.

[Dr Mordrid]

Most recent RocketMotorTwo test firings. Big gaps because it's a proven tech and RM2 is very similar to the engines for Sierra Nevada's Dream Chaser, which has undergone extensive testing over the last year.

We now know that a full duration burn of SS2's engine is 55 seconds. Flight tests shouldn't be too far off as SS2 has spent the last month getting the necessary mods to install flight engines instead of the mass simulators used in previous test flights.

========================

Fire: 05

Date: 11 August 10

Objectives:

Perform fifth full scale flight design RM2 hot-fire
Continue all systems evaluation
Continue fuel formulation evaluation
Continue nozzle evaluation
Continue motor structural evaluation
Continue valve/injector performance evaluation

Results:

All objectives completed. Performed successful increased duration hot-fire, including igniter performance, oxidizer flow and pressurization systems, data acquisition system measurements, structural evaluation, nozzle ablation, and fuel regression rate data collection. Determined stability levels.

========================

Fire: 06

Date: 24 March 11

Objectives:

Perform sixth full scale flight design RM2 hot-fire
Continue all systems evaluation
Continue fuel formulation evaluation
Continue nozzle evaluation
Continue motor structural evaluation
Continue valve/injector performance evaluation

Results:

All objectives completed. Performed increased duration hot-fire, including igniter performance, oxidizer flow and pressurization systems, data acquisition system measurements, structural evaluation, nozzle ablation, and fuel regression rate data collection. Determined stability levels.

========================

Fire: 07

Date: 25 August 11

Objectives:

Perform seventh full scale flight design RM2 hot-fire
Continue all systems evaluation
Continue fuel formulation evaluation
Continue nozzle evaluation
Continue motor structural evaluation
Continue valve/injector performance evaluation

Results:

All objectives completed. Performed 55 second, full duration hot-fire, including igniter performance, oxidizer flow and pressurization systems, data acquisition system measurements, structural evaluation, nozzle ablation, and fuel regression rate data collection.

========================

[Dr Mordrid]

New VG video shows a RM-2 engine test, the last drop-test and a few seconds of cockpit video.

As to progress: SS2 Enterprise is in the hangar getting her oxidizer tank and an RM-2 engine installed. The WhiteKnightTwo mothership will also be doing drop-tests of Sierra Nevada's Dream Chaser mini-shuttle under NASA's Commercial Crew program.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c6HjHNdWQBg

[Dr Mordrid]

[Note:] = my comments.

Parabolic Arc....

Virgin Galactic CEO and President George Whitesides says powered SpaceShipTwo flights are set for this summer in Mojave:

“Over the next few months we’re integrating parts and pieces of the hybrid rocket motor into the SpaceShipTwo airframe, completing ground testing of the rocket motor, and then [will] try and start powered flight over the summer,” Whitesides told SPACE.com. Those rocket-powered flights, he said, will continue for some period of time.

[Note: SS2 #1 is designated VSS Enterprise]

Whitesides said it looks possible “to get up to space altitude by the end of the year, if all goes well.” The next major follow-on steps, he said, involve obtaining a commercial operating license from the Federal Aviation Administration and moving operations from California to Spaceport America in New Mexico.

“We hope to get to space this year and our hope is to be able to start commercial operations from Spaceport America in 2013,” Whitesides said….

Now under way is construction of the next WhiteKnightTwo and SpaceShipTwo, taking place at The Spaceship Company (TSC) in Mojave, Calif. Eventually, Virgin officials envision a whole fleet of these systems to run frequent tourist joyrides to space.

[Note: SS2.#2 will be designated VSS Voyager]

“They have already started construction of the second vehicle pair,” Whitesides observed.

[Dr Mordrid]

The FAA has given SS2 a GO for rocket powered flights

http://www.faa.gov/about/office_org/headquarters_offices/ast/launch_license/active_permits/media/Scaled_Composites_SS2_EP_12-007.pdf

[Dr Mordrid]

Indications of another drop test today, in powered flight configuration but without ignition. Sounda like a powered flight is coming soon.

New SS2 photo shows the RocketMotor2 (RM2) nozzle -

[Dr Mordrid]

There was also a 5 second full power burn of RocketMotorTwo, the hybrid engine that will power SS2. This basic design will also be used for the engines on Sierra Nevada's Dream Chaser spaceplane.

http://www.virgingalactic.com/news/item/spaceshiptwo-completes-first-glide-in-powered-flight-configuration/

SpaceShipTwo today undertook its 23rd glide flight in the pre-powered portion of its incremental test flight program.

This was a significant flight as it was the first with rocket motor components installed, including tanks. It was also the first flight with thermal protection applied to the spaceship’s leading edges. It followed an equally successful test flight last Friday which saw SpaceShipTwo fly in this configuration, but remain mated to its WhiteKnightTwo carrier aircraft.

All objectives of both flights were successfully met.

SpaceShipTwo is expected to undertake a minimum of two more glide flights in order to complete all remaining preparation for its first powered flight.

Congratulation to the test pilots, engineers, technicians and all involved!

[Dr Mordrid]

http://www.virgin.com/richard-branson/blog/this-isnt-sci-fi

This isn't sci-fi

We are making fantastic progress on Virgin Galactic's preparations for travel to space. It has been an amazing, at times agonising process to get the space program this far, and as the weeks and months pass we are steadily witnessing more little bits of history.

The team just conducted an extremely significant night rocket motor firing, which has been described by Matt Stinemetze, Scaled Composites' Program Manager for the development and testing of our space vehicles, in the fantastically descriptive piece below. His words show the huge excitement now emanating from the Mojave Desert, as we move closer to breaking the sound barrier and then building up to full spaceflight in the coming months.

This project really means so much to all of the people involved, from the engineers to the future astronauts to supporters around the world who one day dream of going to space. Here are Matt's wonderful words to his team-mates:

We are making fantastic progress on Virgin Galactic's preparations for travel to space. It has been an amazing, at times agonising process to get the space program this far, and as the weeks and months pass we are steadily witnessing more little bits of history.

The team just conducted an extremely significant night rocket motor firing, which has been described by Matt Stinemetze, Scaled Composites' Program Manager for the development and testing of our space vehicles, in the fantastically descriptive piece below. His words show the huge excitement now emanating from the Mojave Desert, as we move closer to breaking the sound barrier and then building up to full spaceflight in the coming months.

This project really means so much to all of the people involved, from the engineers to the future astronauts to supporters around the world who one day dream of going to space. Here are Matt's wonderful words to his team-mates:

"8:00 pm. On the dirt berm north of the test site we’re far enough from the city and the airport lights that it’s dark. It’s dark enough in fact that overhead millions of stars are visible, but no moon. Yet another surreal late night at work for Scaled. The murmur from the 50 or so people on the berm has subsided and there is an eerie silence as you’re inside the last minute. In front of us four large floodlights illuminate the white bug; two red strobes flash on either end. It’s just far enough away and just bright enough that you have to squint to make out the details

Kawoomph!… Instantly any speaking subsides and if it doesn’t, you can’t hear it. A large yellow flame has suddenly erupted 50 feet behind the white structure and a deafening roar has filled the night. Simultaneously, a large column of brown dust billows up a mile behind the flame. A smooth, earthy, roar/rumble unlike anything you’ve heard encompasses you. As the first few seconds tick by the shock wears off and you find yourself wondering what those cars on the bypass must be thinking (I’m sure at least a couple folks wandered onto the sound bumpers at the shoulder, heads straining westward wondering what in the world they were seeing).

The scene is so surreal, so overwhelming that you mentally start and stop the count two or three times not remembering where you left off. You squint, strain and then as quickly as it started it whooshes to an abrupt stop. Your eyes flicker, a white blur stains your vision long after it’s over. Behind you in the far distance, several seconds after the flame subsides, the heavy rumble of the echo across the mountains rattles to a stop. Wahoo!! the hill erupts into jubilation…. This isn’t sci-fi, and it’s not the scene from a book. This is your program and it happened on Thursday night February 28th, 2013. The first in a rapid series of final confirmation firings leading up to SpaceShipTwo's first rocket powered flight was completed in dramatic style!"