Virgin Galactic SpaceShipTwo's Re-entry Tech: the Feather

Dutch Gun writes: When most people think about rocket science, they think of the challenge of getting a spacecraft into space. However, the problem of safely re-entering the atmosphere is a daunting challenge as well. Virgin Galactic introduces us to the concept of "the feather," their term for the combination of fixed-wing and capsule based solutions both used by spaceships in the past, and explain how they believe this hybrid approach to be a superior solution. SpaceShipTwo folds its wings in the initial decent, acting a bit like a badminton shuttlecock, when a capsule decent has the most advantages. In the latter part of the decent, the wings are extended, giving the vehicle the advantages of a glider-like landing.

Comments

Re:Seems to work great unless...

[Anonymous Coward]

That's nice. Is there any stage in the rocket launching/landing that one can do too soon without a spectacular failure?

Re:Stupid Self-Aggrandizing Press Release

[dimeglio]

You are greatly diminishing the importance of funding.

Probably not better at orbital speed.

[mightypenguin]

I have serious doubts that a feathered reentry would work for anything that has orbital reentry speed. There's a reason we have capsules with heat shields, and it's still tricky. We lost a shuttle over damaged heat shields. I suspect there would be strong vibration issues at orbital reentry speed as well that they haven't had to face yet since all of their flights so far (as well as those actually scheduled) have been sub-orbital. That being said, I wish them luck and hope they continue to innovate.