FAA Investigating Problems With Richard Branson Flight To Edge Of Space
FAA investigating problems with Richard Branson's flight to edge of space
Earlier this week, the Federal Aviation Administration stated that it is looking into Richard Branson's space voyage. The FAA claims that the rocket-powered plane owned by his company, Virgin Galactic, deviated off course during its descent and is investigating.
Following a report by the New Yorker's Nicholas Schmidle that warning lights appeared on the dashboard of Virgin Galactic's SpaceShipTwo, indicating that the vehicle was about to veer off course, while the company's billionaire founder, Richard Branson, was riding in it during a minutes-long joyride/publicity stunt that reached the edge of space, the Federal Aviation Administration issued a statement on the matter. In addition, Schmidle revealed the existence of the FAA probe in a press conference.
In an email to CNN Business, Virgin Galactic spokesperson Barney Gimbel confirmed that the flight's trajectory had "changed," and that "when the glide cone message indicated that the pilots should modify the flight path to adjust the trajectory, our pilots did exactly as instructed and followed the procedures."
Misleading characterizations and conclusions
The firm's original response on Wednesday afternoon defended the flight's safety, arguing that Schmidle's paper contains "misleading characterizations and conclusions." The company later clarified that it opposes Schmidle's claims.
"Unity 22 was a safe and successful test flight that was conducted in accordance with all of our flight and training regulations. Strong winds at high altitude caused the spacecraft to deviate from its intended path, which the pilots and systems monitored to ensure the vehicle remained within mission constraints "According to the organization.
"Despite the fact that the final trajectory of the flight diverged from our original plan, it was a deliberate and controlled flight route that allowed Unity 22 to reach space and land safely at our New Mexico Spaceport in New Mexico. There was never a time when passengers or crew members were in danger as a result of this trajectory adjustment "It has been included.
"The spaceplane's pilots experienced high winds at altitude," according to the statement, and "responded appropriately to these shifting flight conditions."
Although the company recognized that the flight "deviated from our initial plan," it did not deny that the spacecraft went below the permissible altitude for one minute and 41 seconds.
At no point did the ship fly over any population areas or represent a threat to the general public, according to a statement from the firm. "Representatives from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) were present in our control room throughout the flight and post-flight debriefings. We are working with the Federal Aviation Administration to meet the airspace requirements for future flights."
In response to additional questions about the supposed warning lights that appeared in the spacecraft's cockpit during Branson's voyage, Virgin Galactic declined to comment.
More report from Schmidle
Schmidle's report states that the pilots of the rocket-powered, supersonic SpaceShipTwo were presented with yellow and red warning indications when the vehicle began to deviate from its intended path.
A report from The New York Times claims that the vehicle's out-of-kilter orientation pushed its descent down to Earth off balance, and that it could have been forced to make an emergency landing in the New Mexico desert.
According to Schmidle, this latest report adds to a string of explosive scoops he has gotten about Virgin Galactic's safety record, which the company's executives and public relations officials have attempted to brush under the rug in order to maintain goodwill with the company's wealthy clientele and would-be space travelers.
Following a devastating test flight in 2014 that claimed the lives of one pilot and badly injured another, Branson's voyage was Virgin Galactic's fourth successful trip to space. There have been severe safety issues on at least two of those four journeys, according to the information available. According to Schmidle, who also wrote "Test Gods," a recently published book about his years with inside access to Virgin Galactic, a test flight in 2019 — the first to include a passenger, Virgin Galactic engineer Beth Moses — came dangerously close to failure due to a serious problem with the space plane's wing, causing it to crash.
The former vice president of safety at Virgin Galactic, Todd Ericson, told Schmidle last year that this should have been a "conversion experience" rather than "something you throw under the rug."
The Federal Aviation Administration and Virgin Galactic have not made the difficulties surrounding the 2019 voyage or Branson's journey public.
