Virgin Galactic Spaceship Two crashed in the Mohave Desert on Friday, killing one test pilot. The disaster is still under investigation, raising questions about the future of commercial flights in space.
Spaceship Two, the flagship of the British billionaire's commercial spaceflight venture, took off on a test flight yesterday morning from the Virgin Galactic Base, at the Mojave Air and Space Port, a little under 100 miles north-east of Los Angeles. Two test pilots equipped with parachutes were thought to be on board the spacecraft, and local authorities said one had died, while the other managed to eject from the plane and was transported to hospital with "moderate to major" injuries, according to Yahoo News.
The crash area was about 120 miles north of downtown Los Angeles and 20 miles from the Mojave Air and Space Port, where the mid-morning flight originated. More than a dozen investigators in a range of specialties were forming teams to examine the crash site, collect data and interview witnesses, NTSB Acting Chairman Christopher A. Hart told a press conference at Mojave Air and Space Port.
Billionaire Virgin Galactic founder Richard Branson vowed Saturday to find out what caused the crash of his prototype space tourism craft that killed one of two test pilots, adding that while he remains committed to civilian space travel "we are not going to push on blindly," according to a report by the Associated Press.
Branson released a statement Friday night saying it was "among the most difficult trips I have ever had to make" but that he wants to be "with the dedicated and hardworking people who are now in shock at this devastating loss". "Space is hard - but worth it," Branson wrote. "We will persevere and move forward together."
"Yesterday, we fell short," he said. "We'll now comprehensively assess the results of the crash and are determined to learn from this and move forward."
The NTSB investigators were expected to head to an area about 20 miles from the Mojave airfield where debris from Spaceship Two fell over a wide area of uninhabited desert Friday morning. The spacecraft broke up after being released from a carrier aircraft at high altitude, according to Ken Brown, a photographer who witnessed the accident.
Friday's accident was the second this week involving private space flight. On Tuesday, an unmanned commercial supply rocket bound for the International Space Station exploded moments after liftoff in Virginia.
