Frida Space Posted November 3, 2014 Share Posted November 3, 2014 Following a very early analysis of the data, the NTSB reports that SpaceShipTwo's crash might have been because of the "premature extension of the tail stabilizers."According to SpaceflightNow.com, "a camera mounted inside SpaceShipTwo’s cockpit showed Alsbury [the copilot] move a handle to unlock the feather system as the rocket plane passed Mach 1  the speed of sound. Such action on a SpaceShipTwo flight is not expected until the rocket plane reaches Mach 1.4."Why did the copilot make such a big mistake? Is it possible that he wanted to commit suicide? The fact that he was found dead still sitting in his seat, while the pilot managed to escape, would support this view.That said, I'm just throwing it out, I haven't even read the full article. I could be totally wrong, but I was just curious. I do not want to start a huge moral fight. Thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mazon Del Posted November 3, 2014 Share Posted November 3, 2014 I somewhat doubt it was suicide. It likely was a case of pilot error, maybe he thought deploying it early wouldn't matter so much. Maybe they recently improved the system so it operated faster than usual and he was practiced on it taking so long to enable so he was trying to time it to activate when it passed 1.4.Considering that the pilot managed to escape with fairly severe injuries indicates that there is a chance that the copilot might simply have been knocked unconcious or even killed before he could begin any sort of escape procedures. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brethern Posted November 3, 2014 Share Posted November 3, 2014 How could he make such a big mistake?Same way the guy who dropped the apollo 13 oxygen tanks though it wasn't a big deal.Same way the guy who designed apollo 1 to use pure oxygen and have an in swing hatch though it wasn't a big dealSame way they though that launching a saturn V during a storm was ok.They're human and they make mistakes. Maybe the speed gauge indicated they were past mach 1.4 who knows. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sal_vager Posted November 3, 2014 Share Posted November 3, 2014 Oh wow, this is so beyond human decency it's unreal, can you guys not wait for an official announcement before resorting to this?I'm closing this thread, I don't want to see it pop up again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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