The Virgin Galactic SpaceShipTwo rocket plane experienced a serious anomaly resulting in the loss of the vehicle Friday afternoon.
According to Virgin Galactic, “The WhiteKnightTwo carrier aircraft landed safely. Our first concern is the status of the pilots, which is unknown at this time.”
Two pilots normally fly in SpaceShipTwo’s cockpit during a test. The pilots are equipped with parachutes, and their are reports that parachutes were sighted over the Mojave Air and Space Port in California.
The California Highway Patrol is reporting one fatality and one person seriously injured.
UPDATE: Virgin Galactic confirms "loss of SpaceShipTwo"; conditions of pilots undetermined: http://t.co/RZ912cnydP pic.twitter.com/W6plfqddUn
— ABC News (@ABC) October 31, 2014
SpaceShipTwo Debris field spotted by @23abcnews chopper pic.twitter.com/xDi2KNFfZO
— Jon Passantino (@passantino) October 31, 2014
The explosion is reported to have occurred after Virgin Galactic’s SpaceShipTwo fired up its rocket engine in flight for the first time in more than nine months. In its last flight SpaceShipTwo took an unpowered glide back to the Mojave runway on October 7, 2014.
The carrier ship, WhiteKnightTwo, flew about 45 minutes to elevate to 50,000 feet for release of SpaceShipTwo for free flight.
BEFORE EXPLOSION …
#SpaceShipTwo and WhiteKnightTwo earlier today. Both are airborne now. Photo: Scaled Composites / Jason DiVenere pic.twitter.com/QCTyBZesBW
— Virgin Galactic (@virgingalactic) October 31, 2014
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