This started in private mail; I thought it was relevant to the list.
On Fri, 27 Sep 2002 11:23:23 -0700 (PDT), Michael Wallis
<[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
>It seems that Ky's Space Shot 2002 last weekend failed with the rocket
>blowing up at about 1/2 mile altitude after a clean lift off. * Sigh *
>It's back to the drawing boards for the CSXT team.
Yep. That was the other thing I learned on the CATS Board. Didn't
seem as relevant as the biprop, so I forgot to remember to remember to
pass it along.
They don't really need to go back to the drawing boards. Their
drawings are fine. It's in their execution of the engineering that
they're having their problems. They need to get out in the field
more.
It's the old flight test paradigm biting them in the butt. In flight
test, you either need to be quite conservative, like we are, or test
very frequently, like Armadillo, or both, like XCOR. CSXT is near the
edge of the envelope of their ability to build their rocket, so they
need to exercise it until they work all the failure modes out of the
system. If they keep up this once or twice a year schedule, they may
not be the first amateurs to hit space.
-R
--
"Sutton is the beginning of wisdom -
but only the beginning."
-- Jeff Greason
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