FAA Grounds SpaceShipTwo After Problem on July Flight
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FAA grounds SpaceShipTwo after problem on July flight - SpaceNews:
LOMPOC, Calif. - The Federal Aviation Administration will not allow Virgin Galactic to resume flights of its SpaceShipTwo suborbital spaceplane until it completes an investigation into a problem on the vehicle's previous flight in July.
In a Sept. 2 statement, the FAA said it is overseeing a Virgin Galactic mishap investigation into the July 11 flight of SpaceShipTwo, called "Unity 22" by the company, which appeared to go as planned but in fact suffered a problem that caused it to stray from its restricted airspace.
"Virgin Galactic may not return the SpaceShipTwo vehicle to flight until the FAA approves the final mishap investigation report or determines the issues related to the mishap do not affect public safety," the agency stated.
The statement came a day after the publication of an article by The New Yorker that revealed that the two SpaceShipTwo pilots ignored an "entry glide cone warning" during the July 11 flight from Spaceport America in New Mexico. The flight took them and four others on board, including Virgin Galactic founder Richard Branson, to the edge of space and back with no indication at the time of any problems.
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