SpaceShipOne Problem Resolved

Wired News is reporting that Burt Rutan has resolved the nearly catastrophic problems that cropped up during SpaceShipOne’s historic flight into space last flight. After his flight, pilot Mike Melvill said that a control malfunctioned, caused the rocket plane to roll 90 degrees over to the left, and then 90 degrees to the right when he tried to compensate. Melvill was able to use a backup system, and still reach 100 km of altitude. Rutan said that the problem was traced to an actuator that had ?run against a stop?, limiting its movement. With the problem fixed, SpaceShipOne’s next flight will be an attempt to win the $10 million X-Prize.

Fraser Cain

Fraser Cain is the publisher of Universe Today. He's also the co-host of Astronomy Cast with Dr. Pamela Gay. Here's a link to my Mastodon account.

Recent Posts

Two Stars in a Binary System are Very Different. It's Because There Used to be Three

A beautiful nebula in the southern hemisphere with a binary star at it's center seems…

9 hours ago

The Highest Observatory in the World Comes Online

The history of astronomy and observatories is full of stories about astronomers going higher and…

9 hours ago

Is the JWST Now an Interplanetary Meteorologist?

The JWST keeps one-upping itself. In the telescope's latest act of outdoing itself, it examined…

10 hours ago

Solar Orbiter Takes a Mind-Boggling Video of the Sun

You've seen the Sun, but you've never seen the Sun like this. This single frame…

11 hours ago

What Can AI Learn About the Universe?

Artificial intelligence and machine learning have become ubiquitous, with applications ranging from data analysis, cybersecurity,…

11 hours ago

Enceladus’s Fault Lines are Responsible for its Plumes

The Search for Life in our Solar System leads seekers to strange places. From our…

1 day ago