Ch12 - X-ing
X-Wing is a popular fighter from the "Star Wars" movies. It was 12,5 m long and was equipped with 4 laser guns and 2 torpedo tubes. The X-Wing could move freely in outer space and in planets’ atmospheres, reaching the speed of 1050 km/h. The best X-Wing pilot was Luke Skywalker, but even he needed an advanced droid to help him navigate.
A space fighter as quick as an X-wing hasn’t been built yet. Scientists and constructors have, however, built a whole range of different spaceships: rockets, space shuttles, artificial satellites, space probes and space planes.
All of this vehicles serve different purposes: a rocket’s main task is to carry and propel their cargo (for example space shuttles) in outer space. Space shuttles, on the other hand, serve to carry artificial satellites to the orbit or to take them away from there.
Constructing an efficient space vehicle is an extremely difficult task. It is especially difficult to achieve high enough speed.
For an object to be placed into the Earth’s orbit it needs to move with the speed of 7,91 km/s – called the First Cosmic Speed. For and object to escape Earth gravitational pull, it needs to move with the Second Cosmic Speed – 11,19 km/s. For an object to escape the Solar System it needs to move with the Third Cosmic Speed (16,7 km/s) which means over 60000 km/h.
The vehicle, that came the closest to the performance of the legendary X-Wing, was an American test plane, powered by a rocket engine, built in 1959. The plane could fly with a speed of 7274 km/h, but could only move at the altitude of 108 km, just 8 km over the outer space border.
A great example of creative and modern solutions are SpaceShipOne and SpaceShipTwo – first private spaceships to carry a human being into outer space. The first SpaceShipOne flight happened in 2004 and lasted for 87 minutes. More commercial flights are planned for near future.
Space tourism, however, begun earlier - in 2001. The first space tourist was an American billionaire who spent over a week in outer space. For this unforgettable adventure he paid 20 billion dollars.
Build
To build this construction, you will need LEGO Education WeDo
Explore
This is how the X-wing robot looks like, ready to fly!
The construction consists of the starfighter and the stand that holds it up in the air.
The model has three electronic elements.
1. The hub powers and controls the motor and the sensor.
2. The tilt sensor detects the current position of the fighter.
3. The motor propels mechanisms that move the wings of the fighter.
1. This is the stand, which allows you to tilt the fighter. It uses one hinge and two ball joints.
2. These bricks make sure that the figher, as well as the sensor, stay in vertical position.
The stand can be tilted.
You can also create a program, which will make the figher spread its wings in certain positions.
1. Open wings look similar to the letter x, thus the name of the vehicle: the X-wing.
At the base of wings, you can see elements looking very much like jet engines.
Laser cannons were put at the end of the wings.
1. The grey bricks make the wings spread when the axle turns.
The bottom axles turn thanks to the worm gear. The upper ones can turn because of the tires that were appropriately positioned. Also, these tires imitate the jet engines of the spacefighter.
1. The motor propels the black axle with worm gear.
2. The worm gear makes two grey gears move in opposite directions. These gears are connected to axles that lift and lower the wings by rotating the tires.
3. When the bottom tires rotate, they also propel the upper tires.
Program
The X-wing program will allow you to spread and fold the wings of the vehicle.
