Virgin Galactic spaceship crashes

[aeromed202]

By Irene Klotz
CAPE CANAVERAL Fla. (Reuters) - A suborbital passenger spaceship being developed by Richard Branson’s Virgin Galactic crashed during a test flight on Friday at the Mojave Air and Space Port in California, officials said.
Two pilots were aboard the spaceship, which was undergoing its first powered test flight since January. It was not immediately known if they were able to parachute to safety.
More than 800 people have paid or put down deposits to fly aboard the spaceship, which is carried to an altitude of about 45,000 feet and released. The spaceship then fires its rocket motor to catapult it to about 62 miles (100 km) high, giving passengers a view of the planet set against the blackness of space and a few minutes of weightlessness.
The spaceship is based on a prototype, called SpaceShipOne, which 10 years ago won the $10 million Ansari X Prize for the first privately developed manned spacecraft to fly in space.
Friday’s test was to be the spaceship’s first powered test flight since January. In May, Virgin Galactic and spaceship developer Scaled Composites, a subsidiary of Northrop Grumman Corp, switched to an alternative plastic-type of fuel grain for the hybrid rocket motor.
The accident is the second this week by a U.S. space company. On Tuesday, an Orbital Sciences Antares rocket exploded 15 seconds after liftoff from Wallops Island, Virginia, destroying a cargo ship bound for the International Space Station.

[Allen]

From what I've read it dosen't sound good. One pilot found dead in his seat and the other bailed but died after being recoved. This is what I've read so take it with a spoon full of salt.

[Wayland]

Been checking in on this here: http://www.orbiter-forum.com/showthr...t=34788&page=2

TV reports one ejection with good chute, one seat still in wreckage.

Steve

PS: Orbiter Forum is the equivalent of SOH for the spaceflight crowd.

[Blood_Hawk23]

You know there was a reason why we had NASA. Unless the Civilian group get it together we will start to lose them in space. A rocket blowing up and this are all the more reason to pull the plug on Civil space flight. Time to put NASA back to work.

[KellyB]

Respectfully, sir, I think you need to look at the history of NASA's failures over the years for a more balanced view. The Challenger and Columbia shuttle disasters both happened on their watch.

I don't disagree with the notion that commercial ventures are going to be more risky, simply because of the profit motive, but a more cautious approach for the Challenger's launch in barely minimum conditions might have prevented the failure.

Space exploration, like the early days of aviation, has room for both commercial and government ventures. For our government, with it's debt load, it's hard to justify spending money on it just now, however.

[Blood_Hawk23]

Respectfully, sir, I think you need to look at the history of NASA's failures over the years for a more balanced view. The Challenger and Columbia shuttle disasters both happened on their watch.

I don't disagree with the notion that commercial ventures are going to be more risky, simply because of the profit motive, but a more cautious approach for the Challenger's launch in barely minimum conditions might have prevented the failure.

Space exploration, like the early days of aviation, has room for both commercial and government ventures. For our government, with it's debt load, it's hard to justify spending money on it just now, however.

True and good point. Hopefully we can get back to it some day.

[rhumbaflappy]

Daredevil pilots + thrill-seeking billionaire + otherwise unemployable civilian engineers = disaster.

I'm shocked.

Dick

[gradyhappyg]

It's sad! But consider this. We lost people just learning to fly we lost people breaking the sound barrier we lost people leaving the atmosphere and in this what I consider a new era of space flight we are going to lose people. We learn from our mistakes mourn the dead and move on. Flight of any kind is never going to be 100% safe. Space flight in particular.

[Wayland]

I believe it was Dr. R. A. Heinlein that said "Pioneering is mainly discovering new and horrendous ways to die". He was right, and wrong. The only really new way was explosive decompression. The rest stay the same, just in a new venue.

Steve

[Tuor2112]

I think all the fatalities with this project have been associated with the rocket motor/fuel. The aerodynamic design still seems valid.

[Dev One]

Daredevil pilots + thrill-seeking billionaire + otherwise unemployable civilian engineers = disaster.

I'm shocked.

Dick

I think it should be more like ' Fearful careful Pilots + thrill-seeking billionaire + otherwise unemployable civilians managing (thats pushing) professional engineers = disaster'.
Keith

[Curtis P40]

Wonder what they said about Orville and Wilbur over a 100 years ago...