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Virgin Galactic quiet after explosion

By Associated Press =
Monday, September 3, 2007

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As a female voice coos, "Welcome to space," six passengers in = skintight=20 spacesuits unbuckle their seat belts and somersault in zero gravity,=20 occasionally peeking back at Earth through the private spaceship's large = portholes.

Virgin Galactic showed off this animated video promoting the = weightless joys=20 of commercial space travel at a trade show for experimental aircraft = last month.=20 But the excitement was overshadowed three days later when a deadly flash = explosion rocked a Mojave Desert facility where top-secret tests were = under way=20 for Virgin's yet-unbuilt spaceship.

The accident at the remote site run by famed aerospace designer Burt = Rutan=20 rattled the fledgling space tourism industry, which has enjoyed a = honeymoon=20 period since 2004.

In 2004, Rutan launched SpaceShipOne, the first private manned rocket = into=20 space. And in December 2005, Virgin and the state of New Mexico = announced an=20 agreement that would bring a spaceport to the southeastern desert. New = Mexico's=20 spaceport is scheduled to be opened in 2009 or 2010.

The recent explosion has offered insight into how two pioneering = companies=20 that forged an unlikely partnership two years ago to fly civilians to = space=20 reacted to the tragedy. In a reversal of roles, Richard Branson's=20 publicity-seeking Virgin Galactic kept a low profile while its usually = silent=20 partner, Rutan's Scaled Composites LLC, took to the Internet to mourn = its=20 workers.

Some space experts believe Virgin Galactic is following the right = strategy=20 because the accident was of an industrial nature and not directly = related to=20 spaceflight. But eventually customers and the public will demand = answers, they=20 say.

"It's natural for a company to not be out there talking immediately=20 afterward. I don't think that would be good PR," said Kathleen Allen of = the=20 University of Southern California's Marshall School of Business, who = follows the=20 commercial space industry.

Virgin Galactic did privately contact its prized customers known as = founders,=20 who have paid the full $200,000 to be among the first to experience four = minutes=20 of weightlessness.

Stephen Attenborough, Virgin Galactic's astronaut liaison, reassured = the=20 founders in an e-mail that the accident's impact on the first commercial = spaceflights - expected in late 2009 or 2010 - will be "minimal" and = that it was=20 "business as usual."

In a telephone interview, Virgin Galactic President Will Whitehorn = said it is=20 not the company's place to comment because the blast occurred in Rutan's = backyard. He added that four new customers have signed up since the = mishap and=20 none of the astronauts-in-waiting have asked for a refund.

"It hasn't affected Virgin Galactic as a business at all," Whitehorn = said.=20 "It hasn't put a stop to anything."

The Mojave accident invoked memories of NASA's Apollo 1 tragedy 40 = years ago=20 in which three astronauts were killed in a flash fire during a routine = launch=20 pad test. The accident forced NASA to temporarily halt its space race = with the=20 Soviet Union and make design changes that led to the successful moon=20 landings.

In Scaled's case, three technicians died and three others were = critically=20 injured while performing a routine cold-flow test of nitrous oxide that = did not=20 involve a rocket firing. The company, which has done the test numerous = times=20 before without a problem, uses the chemical as an oxidizer in its = spaceship's=20 hybrid rocket motor.

California occupational safety regulators are investigating the July = 26=20 explosion and have six months to complete a report.

The first fatalities of the new space race stunned the commercial = space=20 community, which until now has spoken about risks in abstract terms.

Exactly how the accident will affect other companies building their = own=20 spaceships is unclear since most are working on different propulsion=20 technologies. However, the Personal Spaceflight Federation, made up of = more than=20 a dozen private space companies, pledged to plow ahead despite the = tragedy.

Before the accident, hardly anything was known about Scaled's = progress on its=20 suborbital spaceship program. Afterward, Rutan admitted for the first = time the=20 company was testing a propellant system for SpaceShipTwo, the successor = to=20 SpaceShipOne. Many details about the program are still unknown including = how far=20 along Scaled is.

Rutan also opened up a bit about his relationship with Virgin, = calling it=20 "clumsy" as he explained Scaled's silence.

"This whole program for Richard Branson's company is a program that's = clumsy=20 for us, because it's announced but not unveiled," Rutan said on July 26. = "So we=20 have for a year and a half here been not answering any questions at all = about=20 the program."

Rutan did not respond to e-mails seeking additional comment.

Scaled has since shed some of its stoic image. Its technical Web site = was=20 transformed into a virtual shrine for the three rocket workers killed in = the=20 line of duty. It set up a memorial fund, posted poignant online = remembrances and=20 gave updates on funeral arrangements and conditions of the injured, who = are=20 expected to survive.

Scaled also sought outside experts to determine what went wrong and = vowed to=20 share lessons learned with the industry to prevent another accident.

"Burt is taking it hard because it's the first time he's lost people. = There=20 is a feeling of shock that some of his friends died," said space = business=20 consultant Thomas Matula.

Virgin Galactic reacted to the accident by posting a three-line = condolence=20 message on its Web site under the heading "Mojave Incident." Its unusual = public=20 silence caused some in the British press to speculate about its future = and=20 prompted Whitehorn to write a rebuttal in London's Evening Standard=20 newspaper.

Virgin Galactic's relative silence is a far cry from its publicity = blitz at=20 the Experimental Aircraft Association trade show in Oshkosh, Wis.

Whitehorn talked about the ease of a Virgin Galactic spaceflight. = "You don't=20 have to learn to speak Russian or train for six months in order to go on = SpaceShipTwo," he said.

Alex Tai, Virgin Galactic vice president of operations, aired a = 5-minute=20 video of a "five-star" spaceflight experience and answered questions = about=20 safety.

Tai gushed about SpaceShipTwo's hybrid rocket motor: "We know it's = going to=20 be the safest way to go into space. There's no moving parts in it, which = means=20 it's pretty much impossible for that thing to fail."

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