What is feathering?
In the past, re-entry into the earth’s atmosphere was one of the greatest risks associated with space travel. However, Burt Rutan’s ingenious feathering design has significantly reduced this risk. In space, the wings are folded up to provide a shuttle-cock or “feather” effect giving the spaceship extremely high drag for reentry. This allows the reentry deceleration to occur at a higher altitude and greatly reduces the forces and heating on the structure. Also, the ship, in the feathered configuration, will align itself automatically such that the pilot has a less-critical flight control task. Burt Rutan describes this as “care-free reentry”. Once in contact with the atmosphere, the feathered wings position the vehicle to the correct altitude without pilot input.
