Disaster at the speed of sound: the tragedy of SpaceShipTwo’s final flight

[n2doc]

by Juliette Garside and Ian Sample

Seconds after firing its engine, Virgin Galactic’s spaceship was breaking through the sound barrier. As the craft made its ascent, the pilots were pinned against their seats, gasping for breath. G-forces crushed their eyes into their sockets, trapping the supply of blood and fading their vision from colour to black and white.

It was at this point, in the three disorientating seconds it took for the craft to climb from Mach 0.94 to Mach 1.02, that co-pilot Mike Alsbury made what many close to the event believe was the fatal mistake that led to the disintegration of SpaceShipTwo. The pilot, Peter Siebold, survived the 10-mile fall back to earth.

“It will be regarded as one of the most amazing test flight survival stories of all time,” says Virgin Galactic chief executive George Whitesides, paying tribute to the pilot who escaped the accident with just a shoulder injury. “It is truly incredible and we are all incredibly thankful that he was able to parachute safely to the ground.”

Speaking to the Guardian after the accident that threatens to extinguish Sir Richard Branson’s dream of creating a commercial space service in the Mojave desert, Whitesides was able to give only minimal details about how Siebold escaped. But by piecing together his information about previous test flights, accounts from witnesses, investigators and anonymous sources, one week on a clearer picture is now emerging of the sequence of events which led to the disaster.

more

http://www.theguardian.com/science/2014/nov/07/virgin-galactic-tragedy-revealed-spaceshiptwo-disaster

[Warpy]

1. Interesting

If there is a SS#3, it will likely feature an interlock system so that disoriented pilots can't deploy the wings too soon.

[eppur_se_muova]

2. Thank you for using the word "disoriented" ...

I'm not sure why people have latched onto "orientated" and "disorientated" (as in the OP) lately.

[muriel_volestrangler]

4. 'disorientated' dates back to 1728; 'disoriented' to 1655

From the OED citation for 'disorientate':
"1728 E. Chambers Cycl. (at cited word), The Word is most frequently us'd in a figurative Sense, for the Disconcerting, or putting a Man out of his Way, or Element. Speak of Law to a Physician, or of Physic to a Lawyer, and they will all be disorientated."

For disorient:
"1655 J. Jennings tr. J. P. Camus Elise 48 'Twas Philippin who was disoriented, but more Isabella."

[Warpy]

5. It makes me wince, too

I'd have heard about it if I'd used that particular barbarism in my nursing notes.

My other pet peeve on DU is "reign in" some sort of out of control entity. It's "REIN IN," folks.

/threadjack

[MannyGoldstein]

6. They accelerated 60 mph in 3 seconds if those numbers are right

And if I can still do math.

That's not eye-socket-crushing stuff - I've done that and it was fun. It's basically what a Tesla does.