Virgin Galactic SpaceShipTwo explodes, crashes

It appears that Virgin Galactic's space tourism spaceplane exploded right after its rocket engine was lit during a powered test-flight.

The rocket plane was at about 50,000 feet when it blew up, not long after it was released from its carrier/launcher plane (which wasn't damaged and returned safely). Debris was scattered over a large area. From the looks of the debris, the thing came apart at altitude, losing some of its control surfaces. Witnesses report it tumbling.

Two test pilots were aboard. Reports are one was killed, the other seriously injured and helicoptered to a hospital. Some (not all) witnesses report seeing a parachute, so maybe the injured pilot was able to bail at some point.

My guess is that the whole Virgin Galactic space tourism project might be a fatality as well. At best it's going to be delayed for years.

 

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Shit's sakes. I actually was impressed by the low costs and all that. Hope the other bugger got out.

 

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a horrible week for space.

 

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more here: http://news.yahoo.com/witness-space-tourism-rocket-explodes-desert-193110746.html

 

CNN just showed part of a press conference in Mojave California.

The big news is that this flight was the first using a new fuel formulation. But Scaled Composites (the vehicle's manufacturer who were conducting the test) emphasized that everything had been tested in a whole series of rocket engine test burns on the ground before it was put in the plane. (I believe that Scaled subcontracts the rocket engine to another company.) It isn't clear whether the new formulation had any relevance to what happened.

No news on the surviving pilot. He's 'doing as well as can be expected' was all they said.

CNN showed photos of a parachute on the ground, so it looks like the surviving pilot was able to get out that way. Somebody on CNN (not at the news conference) said that the pilots weren't wearing full pressure suits, so cabin depressurization and having to bail out at high altitude is likely to cause medical problems right there.

A photographer who was filming the flight from the ground said that he saw the rocket light up, then it seemed to go out, followed by a big puff of vapor, which he speculated might have been the rocket's liquid oxidizer. (The fuel itself is solid.) He didn't see any fireball.

This was kind of like the Challenger disaster in that what tipped off the ground that something was wrong wasn't so much what happened, but what didn't. They realized they had trouble when they lost communication with the pilots and when the rocket plane didn't begin its planned steep climb. So they alerted several helicopters that were on standby.

 

Well is sad to see such an amazing project loose momentum, but the good part of Virgin Galactic is that they will push on. At least one pilot has survived.

 

While his unfortunate accident puts a crimp in the space tourism industry, no doubt Virgin Air and the space tourism industryin general will push on, and space tourism will become a, delayed, reality.

 

delayed? not a chance. You have politics now dictating who gets to use parts for they rocket and from which country (loyal or not loyal to the government)...and that brings back the era of downed J.F. Kennedy.

 

I have heard some talk about pilot error. If true, it is a whopper.

 

doubt it was pilot error.

The aerobraking mechanism was engaged at a moment it shouldn't have had. How does one make a mistake like that?

 

Well if that happened, your question will be answered by the investigators.

 

Doesn't the second pilot have answers?

 

I read it was pilot error. The co-pilot released a lock mechanism way early. This caused the tail mechanism to start vibrating, shaking the wings off. He was the one who died. I expect they'll have a full report and how to avoid it in the future. Sad for the families involved.

 

Indeed, and if true, the next question is why did the pilot make the mistake? What caused him to make the error and how can it be prevented going forward?

 

reference please

http://aviationweek.com/awin-only/ntsb-discovers-uncommanded-feather-deployment-spaceshiptwo-crash

because the mechanism was unlocked by a human 9 seconds earlier

however the mechanism was deployed without human control

http://www.csmonitor.com/Science/20...-contribute-to-the-SpaceShipTwo-tragedy-video

 

What? Do you also post in English?

 

Except, unlike your beloved Mother Putin, we don't have loyalty tests. We have a civil service system which keeps political preferences out of the operational aspects of government.

 

Yea sure, NASA has had a lasting partnership with Roscosmos, thanks to Obama and his punks in White House, that relationship has been compromised because of his ambitions.

 

Really? NASA severed most ties with Ruscosmos because of Russia's continued aggression against neighboring states. There is only one person to blame for Russian attacks on Estonia, Georgia and now Ukraine and that is Mother Putin...not Obama.