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Re:SpaceshipTwo crashes shortly after Mojave test flight by robryk on Friday October 31, 2014 @07:33PM (#8541611)
According to wikipedia, it was STS-3 that had (autoopilot-induced) oscillations during landing. The description on Wikipedia seems to imply that they were expected (the autopilot was being tested) and that the dangerous condition was due to the autopilot being left partially engaged after the test.
Re:SpaceshipTwo crashes shortly after Mojave test flight by neurotech1 on Friday October 31, 2014 @09:21PM (#8541891)
Correct. There was also an pitch stabilization system that malfunctioned due to the misconfigured (partially engaged) autopilot. Point remains that the pilots flying skills in the cockpit saved the orbiter.
Re:SpaceshipTwo crashes shortly after Mojave test flight by sitkack on Saturday November 01, 2014 @01:40AM (#8542294)
And in this case the craft killed the pilot. Shouldn't we be designing pilotless craft?