Virgin Galactic's SpaceShipTwo rocket plane exploded and crashed during a powered test flight on Friday, resulting in one fatality and one injury, authorities said.

The explosion occurred after the plane was released from its WhiteKnightTwo carrier airplane and fired up its rocket engine in flight for the first time in more than nine months.

http://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/virgin-voyage/virgin-galactics-spaceshiptwo-crashes-1-dead-1-injured-n238376

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Space is not a playground and death is always near, as many accidents have shown.
Tullio

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I agree Tulio, and this week has well demonstrated this :-(

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Bob Smith
Member of Seti PIPPS (Pluto is a Planet Protest Society)
Somewhere in the (un)known Universe?

Very sad week in space. :(

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It's one thing to study mother nature, to describe her and admire her from afar.

It's another thing to dance with her.

Well lived test pilot, we will remember you.

Travelling to and in space will remain highly dangerous for many more decades. But there will always be individuals willing to risk everything for a chance to make the trip. Test pilots, for the most part understand the risks they are taking. But paying passengers are another matter and I doubt that most of the people who have signed up for the ride that SpaceshipTwo hopes to offer totally understand the risk they will be taking.

My sympathy goes out to the families and friends of the pilot that lost his life as well as the one who is in the hospital.

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Bob DeWoody

My motto: Never do today what you can put off until tomorrow as it may not be required. This no longer applies in light of current events.

Very sad what happen'd .

I guess i won't be taking that trip then in a few years as this will probably put a hold on everything .

I am surprised as i thought they where ready to start flying next year

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Very sad week in space. :(

+1:(

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rOZZ
Music
Pictures

Exploring beyond Earth's bounds requires the application of enormous amounts of energy to the payload. At this point in human technology that amount of energy is only available through the use of highly explosive materials in a marginally controlled way. Basically the payload sits on a giant potential bomb.

All Astronauts understand and accept this risk, the same as Beaker traders and Norse explorers understood and accepted the risk of being swallowed by a relentless ocean. No steps forward are without risk and the greater the stride the greater the risk. All future Commercial Space Passengers will have to come to grips with the reality that there will be deaths.

My sympathies to all who have lost loved ones exploring space, and my admiration and awe to those who have accepted and will accept this challenge in the future.

The ultimate way to Earth orbit was first detailed by Arthur C Clarke in his novel "Fountains of Paradise", but even a 'space elevator' would still not be without risk. C'est la Vie, C'est la Physics.

DG

According to New Scientist the cause may have been a human error. The wings were put too soon in the position of "feathering" to slow the glide after the brennschluss. It seems that the engine and fuel tank show no sign of an explosion.
Tullio

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According to New Scientist the cause may have been a human error. The wings were put too soon in the position of "feathering" to slow the glide after the brennschluss. Tullio

There have been several news stories stating the co-pilot moved the wing lock lever prematurely but it is well know that the type of rocket fuel used had a propensity for detonation. The original Spaceship I engine used a propellent composed of pulverized tires and additives that proved troublesome during pre-flight testing and exploded in several tests

The answers will be found and corrections made and Rutan and his amazing team will move forward.

According to New Scientist the cause may have been a human error. The wings were put too soon in the position of "feathering" to slow the glide after the brennschluss. Tullio

There have been several news stories stating the co-pilot moved the wing lock lever prematurely but it is well know that the type of rocket fuel used had a propensity for detonation. The original Spaceship I engine used a propellent composed of pulverized tires and additives that proved troublesome during pre-flight testing and exploded in several tests

The answers will be found and corrections made and Rutan and his amazing team will move forward.

Story I heard, was the co-pilot put the system in armed, but no one commanded it to activate. May turn out that the activate switch was in the on position all the time. Might be ground personal error, or preflight checklist error.

Can't be sure from the photos I've seen but it looks more like an inflight breakup rather than an inflight explosion. Not enough charring and no shrapnel holes.

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Had it been an explosion, both pilots would have died. But one is alive (best wishes to him) and may recall what was done.
Tullio

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If it transpires that corners were cut impinging upon safety, then that will come out.

I HIGHLY doubt that any 'corners were cut impinging upon safety' under Burt Rutan's watch. He is MUCH too professional an aviator/designer/manager to have skipped anything regarding safety.

You are correct in that speculation is extremely premature, it took many months to determine that chilled O-rings caused the Challenger disaster.

Again, my utmost respect goes to those who choose to "Go where no man has gone before".

We don't use the terminology "pilot error" any more. We say "human factors" because humans are only one part of a system. If something unexpected happens it is a system failure , not a human error.

In other words, we have highly qualified, motivated, and by all accounts diligent humans operating a machine. If the machine requires humans even better than them to work correctly, then the design or the training is inadequate.

The NTSB, in a preliminary finding, has pointed to a possible human error combined with a malfunction that is thought to have brought down SpaceShipTwo.

http://www.dailytech.com/VSS+Enterprise+Reportedly+Destroyed+by+Tail+Malfunction+Pilot+Error/article36824.htm

Cheers.