Photo: www.theavtimes.com
Even though Virgin Galactic’s founder Richard Branson stated the company will continue to work towards its commercial launch goals, it seems last month’s tragic accident was quite a big hit for the company. Not only did one of the pilots sadly pass away, but it turns out some of the customers have already withdrawn their deposits.
South China Morning Post recently reported that around 20 of the 700 customers who have paid up to $250,000 ahead to book seats on the space tourism venture’s first commercial flights have asked for their money back. Meanwhile, the company is trying to cope with the public opinion's change of heart on space tourism.
“Over the past several days, we have received new information about the tragic incident that resulted in the death of Scaled Composites’ co-pilot Michael Alsbury and injuries to pilot Peter Siebold. Our thoughts and prayers remain with the families and friends of these brave men.” That is what each visitor of Virgin Galactic’s website sees the moment they go there ever since the accident happened.
The investigation, which is done by the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), is stil going strong, but according to a briefing made a couple of days ago by acting chairman Christopher Hart, the fuel theory is ruled out.
The ship’s fuel tanks and engines showed no signs of being compromised. Instead he claimed that a crucial lever inside the cockpit was activated too early. Until the investigation comes to an end, nobody can tell for sure, but so far it would seem the manual activation made by the pilots could be the reason the spacecraft crashed.
“Over the past several days, we have received new information about the tragic incident that resulted in the death of Scaled Composites’ co-pilot Michael Alsbury and injuries to pilot Peter Siebold. Our thoughts and prayers remain with the families and friends of these brave men.” That is what each visitor of Virgin Galactic’s website sees the moment they go there ever since the accident happened.
The venture continues
Richard Branson said he is determined to find out what went wrong with Virgin Galactic test flight. The SpaceShipTwo aircraft exploded shortly after take-off on the 31st of October and even though it was initially believed the fuel was the culprit, the investigators are rather considering a pilot error.The investigation, which is done by the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), is stil going strong, but according to a briefing made a couple of days ago by acting chairman Christopher Hart, the fuel theory is ruled out.
The ship’s fuel tanks and engines showed no signs of being compromised. Instead he claimed that a crucial lever inside the cockpit was activated too early. Until the investigation comes to an end, nobody can tell for sure, but so far it would seem the manual activation made by the pilots could be the reason the spacecraft crashed.
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