Author Topic: 1 Dead, 1 Injured After Virgin Galactic Spaceship Crashes During Test Flight Over Mojave Desert  (Read 536 times)

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Offline mystery-ak

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http://losangeles.cbslocal.com/2014/10/31/virgin-galactic-spaceship-encounters-inflight-anomaly-during-test-flight/

1 Dead, 1 Injured After Virgin Galactic Spaceship Crashes During Test Flight Over Mojave Desert
October 31, 2014 12:25 PM



MOJAVE (CBSLA.com) — One person was killed and another suffered major injuries when an aircraft used by Virgin Galactic for space travel experimentation crashed Friday during testing, authorities confirmed.

SpaceShipTwo, carried by carrier aircraft WhiteKnightTwo, launched at 9:19 a.m. from a location in the Mojave Desert, according to officials from the company, which is owned by British billionaire Sir Richard Branson.

The aircraft was released by WhiteKnightTwo about an hour later and flew freely by rocket power for the first time since January.

Virgin Galactic then tweeted the spaceship experienced some kind of in-flight abnormality.

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Virgin Galactic        ✔ @virgingalactic
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#SpaceShipTwo has experienced an in-flight anomaly. Additional info and statement forthcoming.
12:13 PM - 31 Oct 2014

Several law enforcement agencies including CHP, Kern County sheriff’s and fire departments responded to the scene.

Kern County Fire Department Capt. Tom Ellison told KNX 1070 NEWSRADIO the aircraft landed in a remote region of the Mojave.

“This is a vast area, and from my vantage point, I’m not even able to see any wreckage,” Ellison said. “I understand that it’s scattered throughout a two-mile area.”

A statement released by Virgin Galactic on Twitter read: “Virgin Galactic’s partner Scaled Composites conducted a powered test flight of SpaceShipTwo earlier today. During the test, the vehicle suffered a serious anomaly resulting in the loss of the vehicle.

“The WhiteKnight Two carrier aircraft landed safely. Our first concern is the status of the pilots, which is unknown at this time. We will work closely with relevant authorities to determine the cause of this accident and provide updates as soon as we are able to do so.”



Witnesses reported seeing the aircraft explode in flight.

The FAA released the following statement: “Just after 10 a.m. PDT today, ground controllers at the Mojave Spaceport lost contact with SpaceShipTwo, an experimental space flight vehicle. The incident occurred over the Mojave Desert shortly after the space flight vehicle separated from WhiteKnightTwo, the vehicle that carried it aloft.

“Two crew members were on board SpaceShipTwo at the time of the incident. WhiteKnightTwo remained airborne after the incident. The FAA is investigating.”

SpaceShipTwo is designed for space tourism and underwent its first round of testing Friday after its engines were approved by federal regulators earlier this month.

When fully approved for space travel, SpaceShipTwo will carry two pilots and six passengers.

Hundreds of people, including celebrities Brad Pitt, Angelina Jolie, Tom Hanks, Katy Perry and Justin Bieber, among others, have already paid $250,000 each for the 15-minute flight when it becomes operational.
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Offline Fishrrman

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This -is- "rocket science".

Stuff like this happens.

Well..... back to the drawing board....

SPQR

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This is new technology and accidents are bound to happen. Remember the old Atlas and Titan tests of the 1950s. The Russians had severe problems with their R-7 rocket. One exploded on the pad.
« Last Edit: November 01, 2014, 02:42:25 am by Trigger »

SPQR

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This is new technology and accidents are bound to happen. Remember the old Atlas and Titan tests of the 1950s. The Russians had severe problems with their R-7 rocket. One exploded on the pad.

In those days everything was liquid fuelled which added to the danger. The Atlas rockets were stored in "coffin launchers" which are still at Vandenberg AFB
« Last Edit: November 01, 2014, 02:46:15 am by Trigger »