| SpaceShipOne | |
|---|---|
 SpaceShipOne after its flight into space, June 2004. | |
| General information | |
| Type | Spaceplane |
| Manufacturer | Scaled Composites |
| Designer | |
| Primary user | Mojave Aerospace Ventures |
| Number built | 1 |
| History | |
| First flight | 20 May 2003 (2003-05-20) |
| Retired | 4 October 2004 (2004-10-04) |
| Developed into | SpaceShipTwo |
| Preserved at | National Air and Space Museum |
SpaceShipOne is an experimentalair-launchedrocket-powered aircraft withsub-orbital spaceflight capability at speeds of up to 3,000 ft/s (2,000 mph) / 910 m/s (3,300 km/h)using ahybrid rocket motor. The design features a unique "feathering"atmospheric reentry system where the rear half of the wing and thetwin tail booms folds 70 degrees upward along a hinge running the length of the wing; this increasesdrag while retaining stability. SpaceShipOne completed the firstcrewedprivate spaceflight in 2004. That same year, it won the US$10 millionAnsari X Prize and was immediately retired from active service. Itsmother ship was named "White Knight". Both craft were developed and flown byMojave Aerospace Ventures, which was a joint venture betweenPaul Allen andScaled Composites,Burt Rutan's aviation company. Allen provided the funding of approximately US$25 million.
Rutan has indicated that ideas about the project began as early as 1994 and the full-time development cycle time to the 2004 accomplishments was about three years.[citation needed] The vehicle first achieved supersonic flight on December 17, 2003, which was also the one-hundredth anniversary of theWright Brothers' historic first powered flight. SpaceShipOne's first official spaceflight, known asflight 15P, was piloted byMike Melvill. A few days before that flight, theMojave Air and Space Port was the first commercial spaceport licensed in the United States. A few hours after that flight, Melvill became the first licensed U.S.commercial astronaut. The overall project name was "Tier One" which has evolved intoTier 1b with a goal of taking a successor ship's first passengers into space.
The achievements of SpaceShipOne are more comparable to those of theX-15 than to those of orbiting spacecraft like theSpace Shuttle. Accelerating a spacecraft toorbital speed requires more than 60 times as much energy as accelerating it to Mach 3. It would also require an elaborate heat shield to safely dissipate that energy during re-entry.[1]
SpaceShipOne's official model designation is Scaled Composites Model 316.
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TheScaled Composites Model 316,[2] known asSpaceShipOne, was aspaceplane designed to:
The fuselage is cigar-shaped, with an overall diameter of about 1.52 m (5 ft 0 in). The main structure is of agraphite/epoxycomposite material. From front to back, it contains the crew cabin, oxidizer tank, fuel casing, and rocket nozzle. The craft has short, wide wings, with a span of 5 m (16 ft) and achord of 3 m (9.8 ft). Large vertical tailbooms are mounted on the end of each wing, with horizontal stabilizers protruding from the tailbooms. It has gear for horizontal landings.
The overall mass of the fully fueled craft is 3,600 kg (7,900 lb), of which 2,700 kg (6,000 lb) is taken by the fully loaded rocket motor. Empty mass of the spacecraft is 1,200 kg (2,600 lb), including the 300 kg (660 lb) empty motor casing.[3][4]
Originally the nozzle protruded from the back, but this turned out to be aerodynamically disadvantageous. In June 2004, between flights14P and15P, a fairing was added, smoothly extending the fuselage shape to meet the flared end of the nozzle. On flight 15P the new fairing overheated, due to being black on the inside and facing a hot, black nozzle. The fairing softened, and the lower part crumpled inwards during boost. Following that flight the interior of the fairing was painted white, and some small stiffening ribs were added.
The craft has a single unsteerable and unthrottleablehybrid rocket motor, a cold gasreaction control system, and aerodynamiccontrol surfaces. All can be controlled manually. See the separate section below concerning the rocket engine.
The reaction control system is the only way to control spacecraft attitude outside the atmosphere. It consists of three sets of thrusters: thrusters at each wingtip control roll, at the top and bottom of the nose control pitch, and at the sides of the fuselage control yaw. All thrusters have redundant backups, so comprising twelve thrusters in all.
The aerodynamic control surfaces of SpaceShipOne are designed to operate in two distinct flight regimes, subsonic and supersonic. The supersonic flight regime is of primary interest during the boost phase of a flight, and the subsonic mode when gliding. The craft has separate upper and lower rudders, andelevons. These are controlled usingaviation-style stick and pedals. In supersonic mode the trim tabs are controlled electrically, whereas the subsonic mode uses mechanical cable-and-rod linkage.
The wings of SpaceShipOne can be pneumatically tilted forwards into an aerodynamically stable high-drag "feathered" shape. This removes most of the need to control attitude actively during the early part of reentry: Scaled Composites refer to this as "care-free reentry". One of the early test flights actually performed re-entry inverted, demonstrating the flexibility and inherent stability ofBurt Rutan's "shuttlecock" design. This feathered reentry mode is claimed to be inherently safer than the behavior at similar speeds of theSpace Shuttle. The Shuttle undergoes enormous aerodynamic stresses and must be precisely steered in order to remain in a stable glide. (Although this is an interesting comparison of behavior, it is not an entirely fair comparison of design concepts: the Shuttle starts reentry at much higher speed than SpaceShipOne, and so has some very different requirements. SpaceShipOne is more similar to the X-15 vehicle.)
An early design called for a permanently shuttlecock-like shape, with a ring offeather-like stabilising fins. This would have made the spacecraft incapable of landing independently, requiringmid-air retrieval. This was deemed too risky, and the hybrid final design manages to incorporate the feathering capability into a craft that can land in a conventional manner. The tiltable rear sections of the wings and the tailbooms are collectively referred to as "the feather".
The landing gear consists of two widely separated main wheels and a nose skid. These are deployed using springs, assisted by gravity. Once deployed, they cannot be retracted inflight.
The spacecraft is incapable of independent takeoff from the ground. It requires a launch aircraft to carry it to launch altitude for anair launch.
The parts of the craft that experience the greatest heating, such as the leading edges of the wings, have about 6.5 kg (14 lb) of ablative thermal protection material applied. The main ingredient of this material was accidentally leaked toAir and Space[clarification needed]. If it flew with no thermal protection, the spacecraft would survive reentry but would be damaged.
The spacecraft's aerodynamic design has an acknowledged "known deficiency" that makes it susceptible toroll excursions. This has been seen onSpaceShipOne flight 15P where wind shear caused a large roll immediately after ignition, andSpaceShipOne flight 16P where circumstances not yet fully understood caused multiple rapid rolls. This flaw is not considered dangerous, but in both of these flights led to the achievement of a much lower altitude than expected. The details of the flaw are not public.
The spacecraft cabin, designed to hold three humans, is shaped as a short cylinder, diameter 1.52 m (5 ft 0 in), with a pointed forward end. Thepilot sits towards the front, and two passengers can be seated behind.
The cabin is pressurized, maintaining asea level breathable atmosphere.Oxygen is introduced to the cabin from a bottle, andcarbon dioxide and water vapor are removed by absorbers. The occupants do not wearspacesuits or breathing masks, because the cabin has been designed to maintain pressure in the face of faults: all windows and seals are doubled.
The cabin has sixteen round double-pane windows, positioned to provide a view of the horizon at all stages of flight. The windows are small compared to the gaps between them, but there are sufficiently many for human occupants to patch together a moderately good view.
The nose section can be removed, and there is also a hatch below the rear windows on the left side. Crew ingress and egress is possible by either route.
The core of the spacecraftavionics is theSystem Navigation Unit (SNU). Together with theFlight Director Display (FDD), it comprises theFlight Navigation Unit. The unit was developed jointly byFundamental Technology Systems andScaled Composites.
The SNU is aGPS-based inertial navigation system, which processes spacecraft sensor data and subsystem health data. It downlinks telemetry data byradio to mission control.
The FDD displays data from the SNU on a colorLCD. It has several distinct display modes for different phases of flight, including the boost phase,coast, reentry, and gliding. The FDD is particularly important to the pilot during the boost and coast phase in order to "turn the corner" and null rates caused by asymmetric thrust. A mix of commercial and bespoke software is used in the FDD.
Tier One uses ahybrid rocketengine supplied bySpaceDev, with solidhydroxyl-terminated polybutadiene (HTPB, orrubber)fuel and liquidnitrous oxideoxidizer. It generates 88 kN (20,000 lbf) of thrust, and can burn for about 87 s (1.45 min).
The physical layout of the engine is novel. The oxidizer tank is a primary structural component, and is the only part of the engine that is structurally connected to the spacecraft: the tank is in fact an integral part of the spacecraft fuselage. The tank is a shortcylinder of diameter approximately 1.52 m (5 ft 0 in), with domed ends, and is the forwardmost part of the engine. The fuel casing is a narrow cylindercantilevered to the tank, pointing backwards. The cantilevered design means that a variety of motor sizes can be accommodated without changing the interface or other components. Thenozzle is a simple extension of the fuel casing; the casing and nozzle are actually a single component, referred to as theCTN (case,throat, andnozzle).Burt Rutan has applied for apatent on this engine configuration.
There is considerable use ofcomposite materials in the engine design. The oxidizer tank consists of a composite liner withgraphite/epoxy over-wrap andtitanium interface flanges. The CTN uses a high-temperature composite insulator with a graphite/epoxy structure. Incorporating the solid fuel (and hence the main part of the engine) and theablative nozzle into this single bonded component minimizes the possible leak paths.
The oxidizer tank and CTN are bolted together at the main valve bulkhead, which is integrated into the tank. There areO-rings at the interface to prevent leakage; this is the main potential leak path in the engine. The ignition system, main control valve, and injector are mounted on the valve bulkhead, inside the tank. Slosh baffles are also mounted on this bulkhead. Because the oxidizer is stored under pressure, no pump is required.
The tank liner and the fuel casing are built in-house byScaled Composites. The tank over-wrap is supplied byThiokol. The ablative nozzle is supplied byAAE Aerospace. The oxidizer fill, vent, and dump system is supplied byEnvironmental Aeroscience Corporation. The remaining components—the ignition system, main control valve, injector, tank bulkheads, electronic controls, and solid fuel casting—are supplied bySpaceDev.
The CTN must be replaced between firings. This is the only part of the craft, other than the fuel and oxidizer themselves, that must be replaced.
The solid fuel is cast with four holes. This has the disadvantage that it is possible for chunks of fuel between the holes to become detached during a burn and obstruct the flow of oxidizer and exhaust. Such situations tend to rapidly self-correct.
The oxidizer tank is filled and vented through its forwardbulkhead, on the opposite side of the tank from the fuel and the rest of the engine. This improves safety. It is filled to a pressure of 4.8 MPa (700 psi) atroom temperature.
The nozzle has an expansion ratio of 25:1, which is optimized for the upper part of the atmosphere. A different nozzle, with an expansion ratio of 10:1, is used for test firing on the ground. The nozzles are black on the outside, but for aerodynamic testing, red dummy nozzles are used instead.
The rocket is not throttleable. Once lit, the burn can be aborted, but the power output cannot otherwise be controlled. The thrust in fact varies, for two reasons. Firstly, as the pressure in the oxidizer tank decreases, the flow rate reduces, reducing thrust. Secondly, in the late stages of a burn the oxidizer tank contains a mixture of liquid and gaseous oxidizer, and the power output of the engine varies greatly depending on whether it is using liquid or gaseous oxidizer at a particular moment. (The liquid, being far denser, allows a greater burn rate.)
Both the fuel and oxidizer can be stored without special precautions, and they do not burn when brought together without a significant source of heat. This makes the rocket far safer than conventional liquid or solid rockets. The combustion products are water vapour, carbon dioxide, hydrogen, nitrogen, nitrogen oxides and carbon monoxide.
The engine was upgraded in September 2004, between flights15P and16P. The upgrade increased the oxidizer tank size, to provide greater thrust in the early part of the burn, allow a longer burn, and delay the onset of the variable thrust phase at the end of the burn. Prior to the upgrade the engine generated 76 kN (17,000 lbf) of thrust and could burn for 76 s (1.27 min). After the upgrade it was capable of 88 kN (20,000 lbf) thrust and an 87 s (1.45 min) burn.
Tier One's launch aircraft,Scaled Composites Model 318, known asWhite Knight, is designed to take off and land horizontally and attain an altitude of about 15 km (9.3 mi), all while carrying the Tier One spacecraft in aparasite aircraft configuration. Its propulsion is by twinturbojets: afterburning J-85-GE-5 engines, rated at 15.6 kN (3,500 lbf) of thrust each.
It has the same cabin,avionics, and trim system as SpaceShipOne. This means it canflight-qualify almost all components of SpaceShipOne. It also has a high thrust-to-weight ratio and large speed brakes. These features combined allow it to be used as a high-fidelity moving platformflight simulator for SpaceShipOne. White Knight is also equipped with a trim system which (when activated) causes it to have the same glide profile as SpaceShipOne; this allows the pilots to practice for landing SpaceShipOne. The same pilots fly White Knight as fly SpaceShipOne.
The aircraft's distinctive shape features long, thin wings, in a flattened "W" shape, with a wingspan of 25 m (82 ft), dual tailplanes, and four wheels (front and rear at each side). The rear wheels retract, but the front ones, which are steerable, are permanently deployed, with small fairings, referred to as "spats", in front. Another way to look at the overall shape is as two conventional planes, with very thin fuselages, side by side and joined at their wingtips, with the cockpit and engines mounted at the point of joining.
Although White Knight was developed for certain roles in the Tier One program, it is a very capable aircraft in its own right. Scaled Composites describe it as a "high-altitude research aircraft".
SpaceShipOne takes off from the ground, attached to White Knight in aparasite configuration, and under White Knight's power. The combination of SpaceShipOne and White Knight can take off, land, and fly under jet power to high altitude. A captive carry[5] flight is one where the two craft land together without launching SpaceShipOne; this is one of the main abort modes available.
For launch, the combined craft flies to an altitude of around 14 km (8.7 mi), which takes about an hour. SpaceShipOne is then drop-released, and briefly glides unpowered. Rocket ignition may take place immediately, or may be delayed. If the rocket is never lit then SpaceShipOne can glide down to the ground. This is another major abort mode, in addition to being flown deliberately in glide tests.
The rocket engine is ignited while the spacecraft is gliding. Once under power, it is raised into a 65° climb, which is further steepened in the higher part of the trajectory. The maximum acceleration during ascent was recorded at 1.70G.[6]
By the end of the burn the craft is flying upwards at some multiple of the speed of sound, up to about 900 m/s (3,000 ft/s) andMach 3.5, and it continues to coast upwards unpowered (i.e.ballistically). If the burn was long enough then it will exceed an altitude of 100 km (62 mi), at which height the atmosphere presents no appreciable resistance, and the craft experiencesfree fall for a few minutes.
While atapogee the wings are reconfigured into high-drag mode. As the craft falls back it achieves high speeds comparable to those achieved on the way up; when it subsequently reenters the atmosphere it decelerates violently, up to 5.75G. At some altitude between 10 km (6.2 mi) and 20 km (12 mi) it reconfigures into low-drag glider mode, and glides down to a landing in about 20 minutes.
White Knight takes longer to descend, and typically lands a few minutes after SpaceShipOne.
Data from astronautix.com[3]
General characteristics
Performance
SpaceShipOne was developed by Mojave Aerospace Ventures (a joint venture betweenPaul Allen andScaled Composites,Burt Rutan's aviation company, in theirTier One program), without government funding. On June 21, 2004, it made the first privately funded human spaceflight. On October 4, it won the US$10 millionAnsari X Prize, by reaching 100 kilometers in altitude twice in a two-week period with the equivalent of three people on board and with no more than ten percent of the non-fuel weight of the spacecraft replaced between flights. Development costs were estimated to beUS$25 million, funded completely byPaul Allen.[9]: 10, 80–111
During its test program, SpaceShipOne set a number of important "firsts", including first privately funded aircraft to exceed Mach 2 and Mach 3, first privately funded crewed spacecraft to exceed100km altitude, and first privately funded reusable crewed spacecraft.[9]: 80–111
SpaceShipOne wasregistered with theFAA asN328KF.[10]N is the prefix for US-registered aircraft;328KF was chosen by Scaled Composites to stand for 328kilofeet (about100 kilometers), the officially designatededge of space. The original choice of registry number, N100KM, was already taken. N328KF is registered as aglider, reflecting the fact that most of its independent flight is unpowered.
SpaceShipOne's first flight,01C, was an uncrewed captiveflight test on May 20, 2003. Glide tests followed, starting withflight 03G on August 7, 2003. Its first powered flight,flight 11P, was made on December 17, 2003, the 100th anniversary of thefirst powered flight.
On April 1, 2004, Scaled Composites received the first license forsuborbital rocket flights to be issued by theUS Office of Commercial Space Transportation. This license permitted the company to conduct powered test flights over the course of one year. On June 17, 2004, under the leadership of airport CEOStuart O. Witt, Mojave Airport reclassified itself as theMojave Air and Space Port.[11]
Flight 15P on June 21, 2004, was SpaceShipOne's firstspaceflight, and the first privately funded human spaceflight. There were a few control problems,[12] but these were resolved prior to the Ansari X PRIZE flights that followed, withflight 17P to 112 km on October 4, 2004,[13] winning the prize.
The SpaceShipOne Team was awarded the Space Achievement Award[14] by theSpace Foundation in 2005.
On 17 December 2003—on the 100th anniversary of theWright brothers first powered flight of anaircraft—SpaceShipOne, piloted byBrian Binnie onFlight 11P, made its firstrocket-powered flight and became the first privately built craft to achieve supersonic flight.[9]: 8
All of the flights of SpaceShipOne were from theMojave Airport Civilian Flight Test Center. Flights were numbered, starting with flight 01 on May 20, 2003. One or two letters are appended to the number to indicate the type of mission. An appendedC indicates that the flight was a captive carry,G indicates an unpowered glide, andP indicates a powered flight. If the actual flight differs in category from the intended flight, two letters are appended: the first indicating the intended mission and the second the mission actually performed.
| Flight | Date | Top speed | Altitude | Duration | Pilot |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 01C | May 20, 2003 | 14.63 km[15] | 1 h 48 min | uncrewed | |
| 02C | July 29, 2003 | 14 km[3] | 2 h 06 min | Mike Melvill | |
| 03G | August 7, 2003 | 278 km/h | 14.33 km[15] | 19 min 00 s | Mike Melvill |
| 04GC | August 27, 2003 | 370 km/h[15] | 14 km[3] | 1 h 06 min | Mike Melvill |
| 05G | August 27, 2003 | 370 km/h | 14.69 km[15] | 10 min 30 s | Mike Melvill |
| 06G | September 23, 2003 | 213 km/h | 14.26 km[15] | 12 min 15 s | Mike Melvill |
| 07G | October 17, 2003 | 241 km/h | 14.08 km[15] | 17 min 49 s | Mike Melvill |
| 08G | November 14, 2003 | 213 km/h | 14.42 km[15] | 19 min 55 s | Peter Siebold |
| 09G | November 19, 2003 | 213 km/h | 14.72 km[15] | 12 min 25 s | Mike Melvill |
| 10G | December 4, 2003 | 213 km/h | 14.75 km[15] | 13 min 14 s | Brian Binnie |
| 11P | December 17, 2003 | Mach 1.2 | 20.67 km[15] | 18 min 10 s | Brian Binnie |
| 12G | March 11, 2004 | 232 km/h | 14.78 km[15] | 18 min 30 s | Peter Siebold |
| 13P | April 8, 2004 | Mach 1.6 | 32.00 km[15] | 16 min 27 s | Peter Siebold |
| 14P | May 13, 2004 | Mach 2.5 | 64.43 km[15] | 20 min 44 s | Mike Melvill |
| 15P | June 21, 2004 | Mach 2.9 | 100.124 km[15] | 24 min 05 s | Mike Melvill |
| 16P | September 29, 2004 | Mach 2.92 | 102.93 km[15] | 24 min 11 s | Mike Melvill |
| 17P | October 4, 2004 | Mach 3.09 | 112.014 km[13][15] | 23 min 56 s | Brian Binnie |
The flights were accompanied by twochase planes—anExtra 300 owned and flown byChuck Coleman, and aBeechcraft Starship.[16]
The SpaceShipOne pilots came from a variety ofaerospace backgrounds.Mike Melvill is atest pilot,Brian Binnie is a former Navy pilot, andPeter Siebold is an engineer at Scaled Composites. They qualified to fly SpaceShipOne by training on theTier One flight simulator and in White Knight and other Scaled Composites aircraft.
SpaceShipOne's space flights were watched by large crowds at Mojave Spaceport. A fourth suborbital flight, Flight 18P, was originally scheduled for October 13, 2004. However, Burt Rutan decided not to risk damage to the historic craft, and cancelled it and all future flights.
On July 25, 2005, SpaceShipOne was taken to theOshkosh Airshow inOshkosh,Wisconsin. After the airshow, Mike Melvill and crew flew theWhite Knight, carrying SpaceShipOne, to Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Dayton, Ohio, where Melvill spoke to a group of about 300 military and civilian personnel. Later in the evening, Melvill gave a presentation at the Dayton Engineers Club, entitled "Some Experiments in Space Flight", in honor ofWilbur Wright's now-famous presentation to the American Society of Mechanical Engineers in 1901 entitled "Some Experiments in Flight." The White Knight then transported SpaceShipOne to theSmithsonian Institution'sNational Air and Space Museum to be put on display. It was unveiled on Wednesday October 5, 2005 in the Milestones of Flight gallery and is now on display to the public in the main atrium with theSpirit of St. Louis, theBell X-1, and theApollo 11 command moduleColumbia.
CommanderBrian Binnie donated the flight suit and checklist used during his Ansari X Prize-winning flight to an auction benefitting Seattle'sMuseum of Flight. Entertainer and fundraising auctioneer Fred Northup Jr. purchased the flight suit and checklist book, and the flight suit is on display at the museum's Charles Simonyi Space Gallery.
A piece of SpaceShipOne'scarbon fiber material was launched aboard theNew Horizons mission toPluto in 2006.[17]
A year after its appearance in the Oshkosh Airventure airshow, theExperimental Aircraft Association featured a full-scale replica of the spacecraft in a wing of itsmuseum which housed other creations of Burt Rutan. Using the same fiberglass molds as the original, it was so exact in its replication—despite not having any doors or interior—that it was dubbed "Serial 2 Scaled" byScaled Composites. Each detail in its appearance was matched, down to the N328KF registration number on its fuselage. It is so precise that, during a 7-minute video presentation held every hour on the half hour in the museum, it can display the two different modes of its 'feathering' ability, albeit through the aid of pulleys and wires (there is no machinery in the replica).[18]
Other full-scale replicas are at the William Thomas Terminal atMeadows Field Airport inBakersfield[19][20] the Mojave Spaceport's Legacy Park alongside the originalRoton Atmospheric Test Vehicle,[citation needed] theFlying Heritage Collection atPaine Field inEverett,[21] andGoogle's Mountain View Campus.[22]
SpaceShipOne was also made into amodel rocket in 2004.[23]
With the success of Tier One meeting its project goals, a successor project started in 2004 wasTier 1b. The successor ships are namedSpaceShipTwo andWhite Knight Two. The name of the joint venture betweenVirgin Group and Scaled Composites is calledThe Spaceship Company, with a goal of carrying passengers under the nameVirgin Galactic, a spaceliner with an initial target of a commercial fleet of five spacecraft.[24][25]
In August 2005, Virgin Galactic stated that if the upcoming suborbital service with SpaceShipTwo would be successful, the follow-up would be known asSpaceShipThree.[26][27]
On 13 December 2018,VSSUnity achieved the SpaceShipTwo project's first suborbital space flight,VSS Unity VP-03, with two pilots, reaching an altitude of 82.7 kilometres (51.4 mi), and officially enteringouter space by US standards.[28][29]
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