Sir Richard Branson's SpaceShipTwo lands safely in the Mojave Desert

A Virgin Galactic spaceship landed safely after coming through a free-flying test above the Mojave Desert in southern California. Sir Richard Branson was present to see SpaceShipTwo - known as VSS Unity - land about 10 minutes after detaching from its carrier aircraft WhiteKnightTwo. It also made a safe landing.
This comes more than two years after a man was killed when the first craft crashed during a powered test flight.
This has been reported in news.sky.com dated 5 December 2016.

An investigation by the National Transportation Safety Body concluded that the October 2014 accident was due to a catastrophic structural failure and was triggered when the co-pilot unlocked the craft's braking system early. He was killed and the pilot was seriously injured when the spaceship broke apart over the Mojave Desert.
Sir Richard, the Virgin Group founder, was present with Virgin Galactic chief executive as the test was carried out. They congratulated the Chief Pilot and Test Pilot. More glide flights are planned after which the team will check the Unity's hybrid motor during rocket-powered tests.
Virgin Galactic wants to begin a commercial operation from Spaceport America in New Mexico "once it believes it is safe to do so". Of course, it will need regulatory approval.


Image courtesy wikimediacommons.org

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