Virgin Atlantic Spaceship crashes in Test flight in Mojave

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http://www.theguardian.com/science/2014 ... ash-mojave
One of Virgin Galactic’s rocket planes crashed during a test flight on Friday, killing one person on board and seriously injuring another.

The plane, SpaceShipTwo, was undertaking a test flight as part of Virgin Galactic’s plans for commercial space travel when “anomaly” occurred, the company said.

— Virgin Galactic (@virgingalactic)
October 31, 2014
#SpaceShipTwo has experienced an in-flight anomaly. Additional info and statement forthcoming.

Two pilots are usually on board for the test flights, launched from a base in the Mojave desert. According to the Associated Press, the California Highway Patrol reported one fatality, and “one major injury”.

SpaceShipTwo is the second-stage launch vehicle for Virgin Galactic’s space flight program. It is designed to disconnect from the propeller-engined WhiteKnight (WK2) craft and ascend to space under rocket power, then return to earth on its own power.

There will be calls for the end of space travel due to 2 major space accidents in 2 days. If anything the message of the movie is to NOT give up on space travel and the exploration of this universe. Many people died during Nasa's pursuit for the moon but it persevered and got to the moon. I hope those who do watch the movie realise this is also a message of the movie to not give up on what Man can accomplish despite hiccups

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Oh jeez, not a good week for private spaceflight :(

RIP

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I'm tellin' ya, Interstellar is just bad luck

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A huge problem here is that these issues come at least partly from lack of funding (particularly the Antares rocket), but the disaster ultimately means there's going to be even less funding, making surmounting the problem that much more difficult next time, with even greater pressure, amidst lessening public interest in the space program. I imagine at least a portion of the population is looking at this trend here and concluding that the space program is a pointless endeavor.

It's hard to say whether Interstellar is coming around at the right time or the wrong time. On one hand, it's quite fitting because the future attitude towards space travel depicted in Interstellar seems like a logical progression from the current trends, even an ever increasing percentage of the American population that believes the moon landing was faked. Part of the reason is that we think, if we landed on the moon back in the '60's, why haven't we landed on Mars by now? Well, partly because the funding for the space program is practically nil, for various reasons, but it's also a much bigger leap than going to the moon than people realize. But even so, the less we as the public care, the less funding it gets, the less we care, and so the loop goes.

So Interstellar shows us an exaggerated version of where we are now, but the hope is that it will rekindle public interest, fueling the imagination and making us want to explore the universe. The fear is, for me, that I feel like the state we're in now, it will fall on deaf ears. I mean it is just a movie still, and while film sparks the imagination, I feel like the interest sort of needs to be there in the first place. So a segment of the population may be greatly inspired by the film, but not everyone. Perhaps it won't touch the cynical adults, but perhaps it'll touch the younger generation, who will be the future.

But another fear is this current trend here, with these rockets blowing up. The big thing about space travel is just how damn dangerous it is, and we're going to be reminded of that a lot. I honestly feel there's also groups out there who have an interest in keeping the public ambition grounded. I'm not saying these events are deliberate sabotage or anything, I'm not a nut, I'm just saying that these things are likely to be blown out of proportion, become part of a narrative that will challenge Interstellar's thesis, and get people thinking, "Yeah, Interstellar is just a movie, this is the reality, and it sucks."

So like I said, it's hard to tell whether Interstellar's coming at the right time or not. It's particularly resonant at this point in history, but it's also going to face a lot of resistance, from current trends, lack of interest, a religious Creationist resurgence (which is probably the religious movement most opposed to the idea that humans can leave Earth), and honestly in a way, environmentalist groups. You might think the movie would be environmentalist friendly given the environmental disaster at the beginning of the movie, but the focus of the movie is on leaving Earth, not saving it. I think the most fervent groups will really push against this, feeling that the public focus should be towards protecting the environment (which is certainly a worthy cause on its own), but away from things 'off the earth', like the space program (which shouldn't have to be mutually exclusive with environmentalism). I would tell people like that that it's just a movie, and it's only meant to act as a catalyst for the space travel stuff and the conflicts associated with that and saving humanity, but I'm also hoping for its themes to resonate with audiences and inspire them to reach for the stars, so it's kind of a double-edged sword, taking a movie's themes seriously.
Last edited by Miss Darko on October 31st, 2014, 4:20 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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Well, I was sorta joking, but that was a very interesting read.

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Cilogy wrote:Well, I was sorta joking, but that was a very interesting read.
Well to be honest I was working on that post before yours showed up. :P

But yeah, the subject has been on my mind for a while now. I've always been a space nut, and it's been depressing to see where things have gone in regards to that. I was already resigned to the fact that I'll probably never see space in person, and even if I do it'll only be low Earth orbit. But I'm hoping that my children or my children's children will be able to experience that, a time when humanity is starting to leave the nest and spread out. We have to get started sooner than later, or else we may never make it in time before something wipes us out. There's a lot of existential dread to be had there.

One thing I fear is that our future will end up being like Interstellar's. Major disaster will strike eventually, it's inevitable, and perhaps when it does it won't immediately kill us, but it may reduce us to the bare necessities, dooming us to a slow decline into extinction. Then we'll approach going to the stars out of necessity rather than out of choice. This drastically reduces our chances of making it, and it's highly doubtful we'll get lucky like the people in Interstellar and a wormhole will just appear in our solar system, either by chance or by the intelligent intervention of a higher civilization.

I feel like we have a great chance of being completely fucked if we don't start investing in the celestial now. Like environmentalists, I believe we've got to think about the future and make changes in the present to make that future possible, though I'll admit my focus is slightly different than the typical person who identifies as an environmentalist. I do agree that the earth should be preserved so it can remain a sustaining environment for ourselves and other species, however. But I digress.

So Interstellar also greatly resonates with me as the first movie in a very long time to attempt putting this message across to the general public, and I'm hoping it will inspire some people. Films have inspired many people to become scientists and astronauts, so it's a powerful medium. But again, I often find myself wondering whether it's coming too late, or too soon, or just in time, to help the space program gain enough public interest to have a resurgence, and these disasters really worry me because of the narrative they may create in regards to that.

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