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The VSS Enterprise crash occurred on October 31, 2014, when the VSS Enterprise, a SpaceShipTwo experimental spaceflight test vehicle operated by Virgin Galactic, suffered a catastrophic in-flight breakup during a test flight and crashed in the Mojave Desert near Cantil, California.
The VSS Enterprise ' s name was an acknowledgement of the USS Enterprise from the Star Trek television series. [4] The spaceplane also shared its name with NASA's prototype Space Shuttle orbiter, as well as the aircraft carrier USS Enterprise. It was rolled out on 7 December 2009. [5] SpaceShipTwo made its first powered flight in April 2013.
On October 31, 2014, Alsbury was test flying the Virgin Galactic SpaceShipTwo, VSS Enterprise with Peter Siebold. The craft broke up in-flight, resulting in a total loss of VSS Enterprise, which crashed in the California Mojave Desert. Alsbury was unable to exit the spacecraft, and his remains were found still strapped to his seat in the fuselage.
The first SS2 was named VSS Enterprise. [39] The "VSS" prefix stands for "Virgin Space Ship". VSS Enterprise was the first to fly; [40] it was destroyed in a crash on 31 October 2014. [10] [41] [42] The build of VSS Unity was about 65% complete in early
VSS Enterprise the spacecraft involved in the accident, attached to its mothership, VMS Eve. On October 31, 2014, Siebold was one of the two pilots flying the Virgin Galactic SpaceShipTwo, VSS Enterprise, along with Michael Alsbury, on a test flight, which suffered an anomaly, resulting in the death of Alsbury and loss of Enterprise.
Virgin Galactic's maiden spaceflight occurred in 2018 with its VSS Unity spaceship. [3] Branson had originally hoped to see a maiden spaceflight by 2010, [4] but the date was delayed, primarily due to the October 2014 crash of VSS Enterprise.
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VSS Unity was the second SpaceShipTwo to be completed; the first, VSS Enterprise, was destroyed in a crash in late October 2014. [10] [15] After rollout and unveiling, a phase of testing called "Integrated Vehicle Ground Testing" began on VSS Unity in February 2016. [8]