- SpaceShipOne flight 11P
Flight 11P of
SpaceShipOne was its eighth independent flight, its first powered flight, and the first privately-funded manned flight to reachsupersonic speeds. It occurred onDecember 17 2003 .The date of the test flight was 100 years to the day since the
Wright Brothers made the first powered flight. It followed several months of glide tests. The pilot wasBrian Binnie .Details
White Knight, piloted by
Peter Siebold , carried SpaceShipOne to launch altitude. At 08:15 PDT at an altitude of 47,900 feet (14.6 km) and a speed of 112 knots (58m/s ), SpaceShipOne was released from White Knight. After gliding to 44,400 feet (13.5 km) and accelerating to Mach 0.55, therocket was lit for a 15second burn.9 seconds into the burn, SpaceShipOne exceeded the speed of sound. The craft climbed at a 70 degree angle, accelerating at 3 "g" (30 m/s²). At burn-out the Mach number was 1.2. The craft coasted to an
apogee altitude of 67,800 feet (20.7 km).The craft was reconfigured into high-drag ("feathered") mode to begin descent. After about a minute of descent, it switched to glider configuration at 35,000 feet (10.7 km). It then glided for 12 minutes back to
Mojave Airport .During landing a roll oscillation caused the left main gear to collapse. The craft made a
runway excursion rolling to a stop in soft sand. The craft sustained minor damage, later repaired, and the pilot was uninjured.External links
* [http://scaled.com/projects/tierone/logs-WK-SS1.htm Scaled Composites' public flight log]
* [http://www.xprize.com/teams/scaled.html X Prize page about Scaled Composites]
* [http://scaled.com/projects/tierone/121703.htm SpaceShipOne breaks the sound barrier] —press release fromScaled Composites
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