SCALED MODEL 316 « SPACESHIPONE »
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Designed and built by Scaled Composites, the first private, manned, space craft doesn't resemble anything NASA has flown, and it doesn't behave like any predecessor craft. SpaceShipOne flies in three different modes, taking off like a rocket, righting itself upon re-entry into the atmosphere, and landing softly, like an airplane.

As might be expected in such a complex structure, simulation played a big part in SS1 design. Scaled Composites uses a number of simulation tools, and has used COSMOS finite element analysis (FEA) software for composite analysis for about 15 years. In the specific case of SS1,which is built primarily of bi-directional carbon cloth, structural analyst Dan Kreigh used COSMOS to perform static, buckling and some nonlinear analyses for the fuselage, wings and tail. To protect the pilot, the SS1 cabin was designed with a safety factor of three, unlike the usual aircraft safety factor of 1.5.

SS1 was built at a cost of about $25 million, and Burt Rutan, founder and owner of Scaled Composites, believes that its success has ended the government's monopoly on space travel and opened it up to ordinary citizens.


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