Added 1 new A* page:Something I didn't know about the Virgin Galactic "SpaceShipTwo" suborbital glider that crashed during a test flight in the Mojave Desert last week was that its elongated outer wing sections—the "tailbooms"—can rotate to a vertical position; at the peak of its climb, this orients the ship correctly for descent. Investigators have now found that this "feathering" system activated early, apparently on its own, just seconds before the ship broke apart. Prior to that, the copilot had switched the system from "Locked" to "Unlocked," and it isn't clear why he did that. The pilot survived the crash, but hasn't yet been interviewed by investigators.
The feathering system looks like a pretty cool design, but could it also lead to catastrophic structural failure if engaged while the ship is boosting at high speed?
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