Virgin Galactics SpaceShipTwo Crashes in Test Flight: 1 Dead, 1 Injured SpaceShipTwo suffered a serious anomaly just after its rocket motor ignited for the test flight, leading to the crash of the spacecraft and death of one pilot. Another pilot sustained injuries and was taken to Antelope Valley Hospital. The pilots were with the Mojave, California-based aerospace company Scaled Composites, which built and is testing SpaceShipTwo for Virgin Galactic.SpaceShipTwo is a spacecraft that is intended to one day take tourists on brief trips to suborbital space. Manufactured by The Spaceship Company, the vehicle is currrently in the testing stage, with commercial operations expected to begin sometime in 2015.Rutan had a different vision of spaceflight than usual. Most of the cargo that leaves Earth does so upon a rocket that goes straight from the ground into space. SpaceShipOne launched instead from underneath a carrier aircraft, called WhiteKnightOne, then separated and rocketed to more than 60 miles (100 kilometers) in altitude. about 700 people have signed up to take a quick joyride into space. Tickets initially cost $200,000 apiece but were raised to $250,000.
Posted on: Sat, 01 Nov 2014 09:16:08 +0000
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