Virgin Galactic spaceship exploded at 45,000ft

Daily Mail ^ | 10/31/2014 | Mark Prigg, Chris Spargo, Lydia Warren and Kieran

[jonatron]

...
The SpaceShipTwo plane, designed to run the first ever passenger flights into space, split into pieces and fell to earth two minutes after being launched mid-air from a carrier plane over California's Mojave Desert.

Wreckage rained from the sky as one pilot managed to eject from the cockpit using a parachute, while the other was reportedly left strapped to his seat as he plummeted to earth and died.

The pilot who ejected also suffered serious injuries and is now in hospital. Virgin has not yet said who the pilots were - though only four men were cleared by the FAA to pilot the craft.

... More than 700 people - including Lady Gaga, Justin Bieber and Katy Perry - have paid $250,000 for tickets

[gaijin]

He ejected via use of a parachute?

Maybe he ejected and THEN used his parachute?

I’m finicky, but....I hate journalists, when it comes to technical matters...

Guns, too, and biology.

[Timber Rattler]

More than 700 people - including Lady Gaga, Justin Bieber and Katy Perry - have paid $250,000 for tickets

Great! Send them on up!

[Dagnabitt]

Branson claimed the company would push on after the crash. I have my doubts. They were way behind schedule before the crash, and were still tinkering with their rocket motor and yet to get their spacecraft into (suborbital) space.

[telstar12.5]

Why do we Americans have to go to foreign news sources to get REAL information? (Even if they do miss a point or two.)

[BeadCounter]

I’m very sorry for the deceased pilot but that said, I don’t think this Branson and these people are positive influences. This surely will be a big setback. Difficult to see them come back.

[plain talk]

I wonder if the media will interview the celebrity guinea pigs to see if they are still in. I doubt they will get ejection sets and parachutes

[Vince Ferrer]

Branson claimed the company would push on after the crash. I have my doubts. They were way behind schedule before the crash, and were still tinkering with their rocket motor and yet to get their spacecraft into (suborbital) space.

I agree. This is not even the first time their rockets have exploded. There seems to be somehing off in the design, and will likely take a complete redesign. that would probably kill the project.

[tanknetter]

He ejected via use of a parachute?

I don't think that SS2 had ejection seats. I'm pretty certain that SS1 didn't.

I'd assume that the crew wore parachutes to bail out if something went wrong. In this case the craft broke up at altitude, so I'd conclude (based on what is known now) that with a large portion of the fuselage gone the guy who survived pulled the cord on his chute and let it inflate and pull him out of the craft.

[Moonman62]

I have my doubts. They were way behind schedule before the crash, and were still tinkering with their rocket motor and yet to get their spacecraft into (suborbital) space.

...

Me too. They’ve been working on this a long time without much progress, and they’ve had others die working on the engine, too. The spaceplane design with solid rocket motors, like the Space Shuttle, doesn’t seem to be safe enough for tourism.

[NonValueAdded]

Ad Astra, brave pilot, you had The Right Stuff.

[Moonman62]

Why do we Americans have to go to foreign news sources to get REAL information?

...

I think we know the answer to that. The Daily Mail or one of the British papers is actually the most visited news source in America.

[hulagirl]

It made me wonder about government because we always say they do things horribly, yet they seemed to get the space thing mostly right, when NASA was doing it?

[ROCKLOBSTER]

they seemed to get the space thing mostly right, when NASA was doing it

Well...Boeing.

[Carry_Okie]

It made me wonder about government because we always say they do things horribly, yet they seemed to get the space thing mostly right, when NASA was doing it?

I'd like to Challenger that idea.

[Repeal The 17th]

Early attempts at space flight were met with some VERY SPECTACULAR failures.
you could probably find them via google or youtube

[Yossarian]

It made me wonder about government because we always say they do things horribly, yet they seemed to get the space thing mostly right, when NASA was doing it?

Ummmmmm.... No.

[TomServo]

Why do we Americans have to go to foreign news sources to get REAL information?

I wouldn't classify the Daily Mail as a source of REAL information. They're primarily a sensationalist, histrionic tabloid. Nothing but trash.

[Carry_Okie]

Then there was the Columbia.

NASA lost two shuttles, both to predicted causes, and spent thousands of times more money.

[jonatron]

Glad you said that so I didn't have to!