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| Virgin Galactic’s SpaceShipTwo crashes after ‘in flight anomaly’ during test. One dead. | Virgin Galactic’s SpaceShipTwo crashes after ‘in flight anomaly’ during test. One dead. |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| At least one person is dead after Virgin Galactic’s space tourism spacecraft crashed in the Mojave desert due to an “in-flight anomaly” during a test flight on Friday. | |
| The company said the accident resulted “in the loss of SpaceShipTwo.” One person was killed, while another was seriously injured, according to the Associated Press. | |
| #SpaceShipTwo has experienced an in-flight anomaly. Additional info and statement forthcoming. — Virgin Galactic (@virgingalactic) October 31, 2014 | #SpaceShipTwo has experienced an in-flight anomaly. Additional info and statement forthcoming. — Virgin Galactic (@virgingalactic) October 31, 2014 |
| #SpaceShipTwo has experienced an in-flight anomaly. Additional info and statement forthcoming. | #SpaceShipTwo has experienced an in-flight anomaly. Additional info and statement forthcoming. |
| — Virgin Galactic (@virgingalactic) October 31, 2014 | — Virgin Galactic (@virgingalactic) October 31, 2014 |
| “#SpaceShipTwo has experienced an in-flight anomaly. Additional info and statement forthcoming,” the company tweeted on Friday. | “#SpaceShipTwo has experienced an in-flight anomaly. Additional info and statement forthcoming,” the company tweeted on Friday. |
| The craft reportedly crashed east of Mojave, Calif., Mojave Air and Space Port chief executive Stu Witt told Bakersfield TV station KGET. The mothership craft, WhiteKnightTwo, which carries the space ship to 50,000 feet before it is release, was able to land safely. | |
| Thoughts with all @virgingalactic & Scaled, thanks for all your messages of support. I'm flying to Mojave immediately to be with the team. — Richard Branson (@richardbranson) October 31, 2014 | |
| Thoughts with all @virgingalactic & Scaled, thanks for all your messages of support. I'm flying to Mojave immediately to be with the team. | |
| — Richard Branson (@richardbranson) October 31, 2014 | |
| This crash, which took place shortly after 10 a.m. local time, occurred after SpaceShipTwo separated from WhiteKnightToo, according to the Federal Aviation Administration. The FAA says it is investigating the crash. | |
| Virgin Galactic released a statement on Twitter: | Virgin Galactic released a statement on Twitter: |
| 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 SpaceShipTwo. [Carrier aircraft WhiteKnightTwo] 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 ASAP. | 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 SpaceShipTwo. [Carrier aircraft WhiteKnightTwo] 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 ASAP. |
| 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 SpaceShipTwo. [Carrier aircraft WhiteKnightTwo] 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 ASAP. | 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 SpaceShipTwo. [Carrier aircraft WhiteKnightTwo] 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 ASAP. |
| According to NBC News, which has a partnership with Virgin Galactic, two pilots flew in the SpaceShipTwo during the test. Parachutes were spotted in the area after the plane experienced the anomaly. | According to NBC News, which has a partnership with Virgin Galactic, two pilots flew in the SpaceShipTwo during the test. Parachutes were spotted in the area after the plane experienced the anomaly. |
| The California Highway Patrol referred questions about the crash to the Kern County Sheriff’s Office, which could not be immediately reached for comment. | |
| Earlier Friday morning, the flight took off from the Mojave Desert, despite some initial concerns about high winds. | Earlier Friday morning, the flight took off from the Mojave Desert, despite some initial concerns about high winds. |
| We’re still closely tracking the weather—mainly winds on the ground and aloft. Stay tuned for updates. — Virgin Galactic (@virgingalactic) October 31, 2014 | We’re still closely tracking the weather—mainly winds on the ground and aloft. Stay tuned for updates. — Virgin Galactic (@virgingalactic) October 31, 2014 |
| We’re still closely tracking the weather—mainly winds on the ground and aloft. Stay tuned for updates. | We’re still closely tracking the weather—mainly winds on the ground and aloft. Stay tuned for updates. |
| — Virgin Galactic (@virgingalactic) October 31, 2014 | — Virgin Galactic (@virgingalactic) October 31, 2014 |
| And we have takeoff for WhiteKnightTwo & #SpaceShipTwo here in Mojave, CA. This is SS2's 55th flight & WK2's 173rd. — Virgin Galactic (@virgingalactic) October 31, 2014 | And we have takeoff for WhiteKnightTwo & #SpaceShipTwo here in Mojave, CA. This is SS2's 55th flight & WK2's 173rd. — Virgin Galactic (@virgingalactic) October 31, 2014 |
| And we have takeoff for WhiteKnightTwo & #SpaceShipTwo here in Mojave, CA. This is SS2's 55th flight & WK2's 173rd. | And we have takeoff for WhiteKnightTwo & #SpaceShipTwo here in Mojave, CA. This is SS2's 55th flight & WK2's 173rd. |
| — Virgin Galactic (@virgingalactic) October 31, 2014 | — Virgin Galactic (@virgingalactic) October 31, 2014 |
| #SpaceShipTwo has been released by WhiteKnightTwo, and is now flying freely for the 35th time. — Virgin Galactic (@virgingalactic) October 31, 2014 | #SpaceShipTwo has been released by WhiteKnightTwo, and is now flying freely for the 35th time. — Virgin Galactic (@virgingalactic) October 31, 2014 |
| #SpaceShipTwo has been released by WhiteKnightTwo, and is now flying freely for the 35th time. | #SpaceShipTwo has been released by WhiteKnightTwo, and is now flying freely for the 35th time. |
| — Virgin Galactic (@virgingalactic) October 31, 2014 | — Virgin Galactic (@virgingalactic) October 31, 2014 |
| Ignition! #SpaceShipTwo is flying under rocket power again. Stay tuned for updates. — Virgin Galactic (@virgingalactic) October 31, 2014 | Ignition! #SpaceShipTwo is flying under rocket power again. Stay tuned for updates. — Virgin Galactic (@virgingalactic) October 31, 2014 |
| Ignition! #SpaceShipTwo is flying under rocket power again. Stay tuned for updates. | Ignition! #SpaceShipTwo is flying under rocket power again. Stay tuned for updates. |
| — Virgin Galactic (@virgingalactic) October 31, 2014 | — Virgin Galactic (@virgingalactic) October 31, 2014 |
| Virgin Galactic was founded in 2004 by British businessman Richard Branson with the goal of becoming the world’s first space tourism company. Branson is the founder of Virgin Group, which has hundreds of companies, including Virgin Atlantic and Virgin America airlines. | Virgin Galactic was founded in 2004 by British businessman Richard Branson with the goal of becoming the world’s first space tourism company. Branson is the founder of Virgin Group, which has hundreds of companies, including Virgin Atlantic and Virgin America airlines. |
| RELATED: Destination Unknown | An occasional series on the future of NASA and space exploration. | |
| Its spacecraft, SpaceShipTwo, is designed to hold two pilots and six passengers. In theory it is flown underneath a carrier aircraft, WhiteKnightTwo, until 50,000 feet at which point it breaks away and continues into space, where passengers will experience a few minutes of weightlessness. | |
| The company has taken deposits of up to $250,000 each from more than 700 people to reserve seats on the first successful space flights, according to the Albuquerque Journal. | |
| The first flight tests of SpaceShipTwo began in 2013. But at the beginning of this year, the company suspended tests in after changing the fuel used to power the rocket, the Albuquerque Journal reported. Earlier this month, it resumed tests and announced that the final phase of testing — which would take the spacecraft into the outer edges of the earth’s atmosphere — would be coming soon. | |
| The beginning of commercial service has been continuously pushed back, but the company now says that they could finally become a reality in 2015. | |
| “We’ll have more powered flights in Mojave this fall, then SpaceShipTwo will be handed over from Scaled Composites, and then there will be more flights for pilot testing in New Mexico,” Virgin Galactic CEO George Whitesides said this month. “But I believe this year coming up is the one people will remember for a long time.” | |
| The crash comes just days after the explosion of an unnamed cargo rocket, which blew up seconds after it launched from Wallops Island on Virginia on Tuesday night. | |
| The accident comes 10 years to the month after SpaceShipOne reached a crucial milestone, becoming the first privately built vehicle to fly to the edge of space two times in two weeks. The achievement was marked as a pinnacle of private spaceflight and netted them the $10 million Ansari X Prize. | |
| Though both private undertakings, the two accidents were linked to two very different types of advanced flight: Antares is a traditional rocket; SpaceShipTwo, a suborbital rocket plane. But both could bring home fresh worries over the safety of private manned spaceflight. | |
| John Logsdon, a professor emeritus of George Washington University’s Space Policy Institute, said, “This will inject a note of sobriety into the enthusiasm of those who would like the spaceflight experience. There was a whole juggernaut of ground training and private spaceports that were being set up to support an emerging space tourism industry, with a collective burst of maybe unrealistic expectations. This will certainly throw cold water on that.” | |
| “It’s going to be very hard to be as optimistic as Mr. Branson has been. He was talking about taking his family on the first flight,” Logsdon said. “Faced with the stark reality that this is still new and unproven technology, I think the enthusiasm will get turned down a notch or two.” | |
| “This was a test flight, and test flights try new things,” Logsdon said. “This was their first attempt to use a new fuel. Sometimes, tests don’t work in catastrophic ways.” | |
| American crews have accomplished suborbital spaceflight since before going into orbit, but the potential addition of people, particularly private citizens, is still incredibly new. | |
| The Orbital Sciences Corp. rocket was carrying thousands of pounds of food and supplies to the International Space Station when it exploded, a catastrophic event that sent the Dulles, Va.-based company’s stock price tumbling, but caused no injuries or fatalities. | |
| “The thing that’s important is that we don’t overreact to this failure — that we really understand what occurred, we let the Orbital team run the investigation, we understand what happened, we fix it,” Bill Gerstenmaier, NASA’s associate administrator of human exploration and operations, said after the Orbital incident. | |
| Drew Harwell and Sarah Larimer contributed to this report. | |
| [This post has been updated.] |