The team at Scaled Composites have installed SpaceShipTwo’s oxidizer tank, a key component that puts Virgin Galactic on track to make the spacecraft’s first powered flight by the end of the year.
Spacecraft like SpaceShipTwo need an oxidizer tank because there isn’t enough oxygen at the upper reaches of the atmosphere and basically none in space to allow for combustion in its rocket motor. Like the internal combustion engine in your car, SS2′s solid fuel engine rocket engine need oxygen to burn the fuel it carries. So if you want some oxygen for combustion in space, it’s BYOO.
Scaled Composites, which is designing and testing the ship propelling Sir Richard Branson’s dream of commercial space flight, has been hard at work in recent months. The team ran into delays last year after a glide flight by SpaceShipTwo in September uncovered an aerodynamic problem with the tail surfaces. Soon after being released from its mothership, the pilot experienced a “downward pitch rate that caused a stall of the tails.” The SS2 crew followed the procedure for such an event, selecting the spacecraft’s unique “feather mode” that allows the pilot to regain control and land safely.
via Wired
