Early deployment of feathering function is suspected as being a possible cause for in-flight crash of Virgin Galactic’s SpaceShipTwo (SS2) in Mojave Desert, California, according to the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB).
Designed to send commercial passengers to the space, the aircraft broke-up in mid-air during a test flight at the weekend, killing one pilot and injuring the other.
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NTSB acting chairman Christopher Hart was reported by Reuters as saying that investigators discovered that something went wrong with the feathering system, which should have been activated when the spacecraft was travelling at around 1.4 times the speed of sound.
The feather began rotating when the vehicle was traveling at Mach 1, Hart added.
The co-pilot unlocked the system early but did not send a second command to move the feather handle into position. SpaceShipTwo’s propellant tanks and engine intact have been recovered and no explosion was identified.
Hart said: "The engine burn was normal up until the extension of the feathers."
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By GlobalDataHowever, he stated that that the investigation is in early stages, and is expected to take around a year to complete.
The SS2 disaster comes less than a week after Orbital Sciences’ Antares rocket exploded on its way to the International Space Station from Wallops Island, Virginia.
Commenting on the SS2 incident, Virgin Galactic said: "Everything we do is to pursue the vision of accessible and democratised space, and to do it safely.
"Just like early air or sea travel, it is hard and complicated, but we believe that a thriving commercial space industry will have far reaching benefits for humanity, technology and research for generations to come."
