Refer to Fig. : let x be the distance between the flash bulb and the forward detector, as measured by the observer O on the ground, and let 94#94 be the same distance as measured by the observer 95#95 aboard the spaceship. Assume that O stretches out a tape measure from the place where the flash bulb is set off (say, by a toggle switch on the outer hull of the spaceship which gets hit by a stick held up by O as 96#96 flies by) to the position of the detector in the O frame at the instant of the flash. That way we don't need to worry about the position of the detector in the O frame when the light pulse actually arrives there some time later; we are only comparing the length of the spaceship in one frame with the same length in the other. [It may take a few passes of the spaceship to get this right; but hey, this is a Gedankenexperiment, where resources are cheap!] Then the time light takes to traverse distance 97#97, according to 98#98, is 99#99, whereas the time t for the same process in the rest frame is 100#100. Therefore, if (from TIME DILATION) t is longer than 101#101 by a factor 102#102, then x must also be longer than 103#103 by the same factor if both observers are using the same c.
Simple, eh? Unfortunately, I got the wrong answer! Can you figure out why?