Multimillionaire founder of Virgin had announced full of enthusiasm his plan to travel in space along with his children in the first flight of Virgin Galactic.
However, the ambitious plans of the intelligent businessman encounter major obstacles after the tragedy that occurred during the test flight of SpaceShipTwo around the Earth.
According to international agencies, the SpaceShipTwo crashed over the Mojave Desert of California, shortly after it detached from the vessel WhiteKnightTwo, which was transferring it to greater heights in order to start its flight.
The co-pilot died from the crash and the second pilot was seriously injured.
Initially the company talked of a “failure during flight” and later the founder of the company expressed his sorrow over the incident. “I am shocked and saddened by this tragic loss “he said and added that his thoughts are with the family of the pilot.
Immediately after the accident Richard Branson announced that he would go to California to meet with the team administering the program of Virgin Galactic, while the company’s website posted a message after the tragic incident, which said: “Space is tough, but worth it. We will stick together and will continue “.
At the same time federal expert investigators are expected to arrive at the crash to investigate the causes of the tragedy, which occurred 50 minutes after take-off.
Early estimates talk about a problem in fuel, while the representative of the company that manufactures the missile RocketMotorTwo that it had been tested on ground conditions and had passed all inspections.
“It’s a step back for those who would like to ride in space,” said the former director of the Space Policy of George Washington University, John Logkson.
Among the “future astronauts” are included Steven Hawking, Justin Bieber, Ashton Kutcher and Russell Brand, while about 700 are interested of “walking” around earth.
Despite the tragic incident one of the candidates does not seem to want to give up.
According to Associate press Ken Baxter has no intention of backing up and states certain that the flight will happen sooner or later. He said: “What happened is very sad but am ready to take off for space with Richard Branson”.