Morphine Prince 109,664 Posted October 31, 2014 Share Posted October 31, 2014 https://twitter.com/virgingalactic/status/528233343599394817 https://twitter.com/cnnbrk/status/528261269082890240 Two pilots fly in SpaceShipTwo's cockpit during a test. Those pilots are equipped with parachutes, and after the anomaly, at least one chute was reportedly sighted over the Mojave Air and Space Port in California, the base from which SpaceShipTwo and its WhiteKnightTwo carrier plane took off. Photographer Ken Brown, who was covering the test flight, told NBC News that he saw a midflight explosion and later came upon SpaceShipTwo debris scattered across a small area of the desert. Bakersfield's KGET-TV quoted the Mojave airport's director, Stuart Witt, as saying that the craft crashed east of Mojave. He said a news conference was scheduled for 2 p.m. PT (5 p.m. ET). 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. Before Friday's flight, the most recent aerial outing was on Oct. 7, when SpaceShipTwo took an unpowered, gliding flight back to the Mojave runway. The latest test got off to a slow start. SpaceShipTwo spent more than three hours on the Mojave runway, slung beneath its WhiteKnightTwo mothership, while the ground team assessed whether the weather was right for flight. The go-ahead was finally given for takeoff at 9:19 a.m. PT (12:19 p.m. ET). It took WhiteKnightTwo about 45 minutes to get to 50,000 feet, the altitude at which it released SpaceShipTwo for free flight. The aim of such flights was to test SpaceShipTwo in preparation for suborbital trips to the edge of outer space, beyond 100 kilometers (62 miles) in altitude. Virgin Galactic had said SpaceShipTwo's first trip to an outer-space altitude could have taken place before the end of the year, depending on how the tests went. And the company's billionaire founder, Richard Branson, was hoping to ride on the first commercial flight next year. More than 700 customers have paid as much as $250,000 for a ride on the rocket plane. Source: http://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/virgin-voyage/virgin-galactics-spaceshiptwo-crashes-during-flight-test-n238376 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dunk96 2,526 Posted October 31, 2014 Share Posted October 31, 2014 Glad that Gaga cancelled,otherwise she might die. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daenerys 6,274 Posted October 31, 2014 Share Posted October 31, 2014 Yeah they just need to postpone the space thing for a million years. Daenerys of the House Targaryen, the First of Her Name, The Unburnt, Queen of the Andals, the Rhoynar and the First Men, Queen of Meereen Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gaga Ate My Ass 173 Posted October 31, 2014 Share Posted October 31, 2014 Sadly this isnt going to stop gaga in fact it'll make her more motivated. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
FATCAT 60,888 Posted October 31, 2014 Share Posted October 31, 2014 Don't be discouraged guys, They have tests flights for this purpose. Gaga will be fine. This kitten over here (meow) Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gaga Ate My Ass 173 Posted October 31, 2014 Share Posted October 31, 2014 Glad that Gaga cancelled,otherwise she might die. She never canceled Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
What 4 Posted October 31, 2014 Share Posted October 31, 2014 Gaga already survived the crash of her career im sure she can survive this too Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Teal Ambition 47,805 Posted October 31, 2014 Share Posted October 31, 2014 Glad that Gaga cancelled,otherwise she might die. She never cancelled tho ▌│█║▌║▌║ before I am Canadian, I am Chromatican ║▌║▌║█│▌ Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Morphine Prince 109,664 Posted October 31, 2014 Author Share Posted October 31, 2014 COMPANY: Fate of two pilots is unknown. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
hughdancy 282 Posted October 31, 2014 Share Posted October 31, 2014 So sad :( those two pilots. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
monsterdreams 1,529 Posted October 31, 2014 Share Posted October 31, 2014 Hope the pilots aren't dead Haters gonna need more than a flashlight for my shade Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ALX 170 Posted October 31, 2014 Share Posted October 31, 2014 Gaga already survived the crash of her career im sure she can survive this too I hope you get WP for that Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
What 4 Posted October 31, 2014 Share Posted October 31, 2014 I hope you get WP for that ouch Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Morphine Prince 109,664 Posted October 31, 2014 Author Share Posted October 31, 2014 BREAKING: One pilot has been found dead, the other has major injuries. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Haroon 49,685 Posted October 31, 2014 Share Posted October 31, 2014 I hope the pilots are okay Test flights are kinda made to find faults and errors and improve on them so they don't happen during the proper thing Let's hope that their future flights are more successful edit: My condolences to one of the pilot's friends and family :( And I wish the other pilot has a painless and speedy recovery Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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