Richard Branson’s flight to space didn’t go as well as advertised – The HuffPost

Joe Skipper via Reuters

SPACE – An orange light, then red: security alerts were lit in the cockpit of the Virgin Galactic company ship having transported billionaire Richard Branson to space in July, revealed the New Yorker in a survey.

The American Aviation Agency (FAA) confirmed this Thursday, September 2 to AFP to investigate this flight: the company vessel had deviated from its trajectory, and therefore from the airspace dedicated to the mission. Virgin Galactic had however assured at the time that the flight had proceeded as planned.

“During the July 11, 2021 flight, Virgin Galactic SpaceShipTwo’s vehicle deviated from its air traffic control clearance while returning to Spaceport America,” the space base used by the company in the New Mexico desert, said the FAA. The investigation is “ongoing,” the agency said.

This confirmation comes after the publication of an article in the New Yorker revealing the incident. The trajectory problem threatened to compromise the return phase to Earth, when the spacecraft hovered until it landed on a runway.

A lit red light indicates a serious problem that could have resulted in a fatal outcome, the newspaper explains. Quoting anonymous sources within the company, he specifies that the safest way to react to these alerts would have been to interrupt the mission.

Virgin Galactic denies any malfunction

Among the four passengers on the flight was company founder Richard Branson. A failure would have greatly damaged the image of Virgin Galactic, who had invited all the press and many prestigious spectators – including billionaire Elon Musk – for this event broadcast live.

The two pilots on board decided to continue the mission despite these lights, and the landing finally went smoothly.

“We dispute the descriptions and conclusions of the New Yorker article,” Virgin Galactic said in a statement sent to AFP. “When the vehicle was confronted with high altitude winds, which altered the trajectory, the pilots and systems monitored the trajectory to ensure that it remained within the parameters of the mission,” detailed the ‘business. “Our pilots responded appropriately to these changing flight conditions.”

Neither the public nor the crew were endangered, Virgin Galactic argued. “Although the final path deviated from our original plan, it was an intentional and controlled flight path,” she said.

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