Virgin Galactic 2014-10-31

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Pigeon
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Virgin Galactic 2014-10-31

Post by Pigeon » Fri Oct 31, 2014 6:36 pm

From twitter

#SpaceShipTwo has experienced an in-flight anomaly. Additional info and statement forthcoming.

The reported anomaly came after SpaceShipTwo fired up its rocket engine in flight for the first time in more than nine months. Since then, Virgin Galactic has switched the plane's fuel mixture from a rubber-based compound to a plastic-based mix — in hopes that the new formulation would boost the hybrid rocket engine's performance.

Two pilots fly in SpaceShipTwo's cockpit during a test. The most recent aerial outing was on Oct. 7, when SpaceShipTwo took an unpowered, gliding flight back to the Mojave runway.

Two parachutes reported seen...doesn't sound good for the ship

Back in Mojave now. Ss2 had trouble with engine burn, blew up, came down in pieces near Koehn Lake.

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Re: Virgin Galactic 2014-10-31

Post by Pigeon » Fri Oct 31, 2014 7:15 pm

Image

Virgin Galactic says SpaceShipTwo space tourism rocket has been lost.

The California Highway Patrol reports 1 fatality, 1 major injury after SpaceShipTwo accident.

Kern County fire officials responded to a report of an aircraft down in the Mojave Desert between Highway 395 and Highway 14 on Garlock Road.

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Re: Virgin Galactic 2014-10-31

Post by Pigeon » Fri Oct 31, 2014 9:55 pm

Something on test pilots

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Re: Virgin Galactic 2014-10-31

Post by Pigeon » Sat Nov 01, 2014 1:27 am

One pilot was killed in the crash and his body was found in the wreckage, while the second pilot, who ejected and parachuted to the ground, survived with serious injuries, Youngblood said. The survivor was found more than a mile from the main wreckage, he said.

Both crew members were test pilots for Scaled Composites, the Northrop Grumman Corp subsidiary that designed and built the spacecraft for Virgin and lost three other employees in a July 2007 ground test accident.

Friday's crash occurred shortly after the craft, dubbed SpaceShipTwo, separated from the jet airplane that carried it aloft for its high-altitude launch, according to the Federal Aviation Administration.

Scaled Composites President Kevin Mickey told a news conference the ill-fated flight was the first using a new rocket fuel formula the company switched to in May. He said that formula "had been proven and tested on the ground" before Friday's test launch.

Stuart Witt, chief executive of the space port, recounted observing what appeared to be the plume from the initial firing of the spacecraft's rocket as it was released from the mothership, an indication that engine ignition had been achieved. But he said officials were not ready to speculate on the cause of the accident.

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Re: Virgin Galactic 2014-10-31

Post by Pigeon » Sat Nov 01, 2014 1:31 am

A photographer said the SpaceShipTwo blew up shortly after its engine fired when it was dropped from the WhiteKnightTwo aircraft that carried it aloft to 45,000 feet, the Associated Press reported. Wreckage was scattered across desert railroad tracks near Cantil, in Kern County.

The pilot ejected and was taken to a hospital, but the co-pilot suffered fatal injuries, the Kern County Sheriff's Office reported. Their identities were not immediately released.

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Re: Virgin Galactic 2014-10-31

Post by Pigeon » Sat Nov 01, 2014 1:31 am


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Royal
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Re: Virgin Galactic 2014-10-31

Post by Royal » Sat Nov 01, 2014 4:34 pm

about space tourism.... Many companies thought they would be taking flights across the world by now.

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Re: Virgin Galactic 2014-10-31

Post by Pigeon » Sat Nov 01, 2014 5:04 pm

Which flight will be the MH370 of space tourism?

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Re: Virgin Galactic 2014-10-31

Post by Pigeon » Sat Nov 01, 2014 5:07 pm

"If we had a working shuttle, we could go get the space cruise ship drifting out of Earth orbit. Instead, it looks like we'll just be watching it crash on the Moon."

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Re: Virgin Galactic 2014-10-31

Post by Pigeon » Sun Nov 02, 2014 3:15 pm

The pilot who died in the crash has been identified as Michael Alsbury, according to the L.A. Times. The injured pilot has yet to be identified.

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