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?