Barbara Selby

Headquarters, Washington, DC December 22, 1994

(Phone: 202/358-1983)

Don Haley
Dryden Flight Research Center, Edwards, CA
(Phone: 805/258-3449)

RELEASE: 94-218

PERSEUS MISHAP TRACED TO FAULTY GYRO

Preliminary findings by a team of investigators at

NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center, Edwards, CA, indicate
that a faulty vertical gyro was responsible for the mishap
Nov. 22 which resulted in severe damage to a Perseus
remotely-piloted research aircraft.

The Perseus vehicle was returning from a mission under

normal remote control after being flown to an altitude of
36,000 ft. At about 29,000 ft., the aircraft experienced
several oscillations and then a sharp descending left roll.
A moment later aerodynamic forces exceeded the design limits
of the vehicle and the wings broke off. One minute later, a
parachute was deployed and the fuselage was recovered on the
ground.

The gyro that failed provided pitch (up and down)

information to the Perseus autopilot during normal flight.
The oscillations experienced moments before the mishap were
due to inaccurate pitch attitude signals from the vertical
gyro to the autopilot that commanded the vehicle to operate
at speeds outside the vehicle's design limits.

During the investigative process, the flight was

duplicated in a simulator which indicated that the failed
vertical gyro caused the oscillations that led to the
mishap.

Instrumentation shows that the vehicle, which has a

maneuvering speed limit of 61 knots (70 mph), was
descending, after loss of control, at a rate of 80 knots (92
mph) at the time the wings failed.
 The investigative team will recommend that the Perseus
project develop better methods to detect real-time sensor
failures in flight.

-more-

-2-

The Perseus vehicle involved in the mishap is one of

two being developed by NASA to collect data from the upper
atmosphere. When operational, the remotely piloted aircraft
may fly as high as 82,000 ft. on scientific missions that
will bridge the gap between measurements from NASA's piloted
research aircraft and space-based instruments.

Perseus vehicles are powered by a four-cylinder engine

designed to operate at the extreme edge of the upper
atmosphere. They have a wing span of 17.9 meters (59 ft.)
and a length of 8.2 meters (27 ft.) When operational, they
will be flown remotely from a ground station, or by an on-
board computer over a predetermined flight path.

The mishap occurred on the 16th development flight of

that vehicle. A second identical Perseus aircraft under
development at Dryden has flown five times. First flight of
the Perseus vehicle was at Dryden in Dec. 1993.

-end-

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