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Newsy Video: Virgin Galactic's SpaceShipTwo Crashes, Killing A Pilot

A test flight of Virgin Galactic's SpaceShipTwo spaceplane ended in catastrophe Friday after some sort of anomaly caused the craft to break apart in midair. SpaceShipTwo was conducting a test of its rocket engines over the Mojave Desert when it experienced an unknown failure at about 50,000 feet. There were two crew members on board at the time of the accident; California Highway Patrol officials told KERO one of the pilots died in the crash and another suffered major injuries. Virgin Galactic says the craft suffered a "serious anomaly," which destroyed SpaceShipTwo. Its mothership, White Knight 2, apparently landed safely. The company added it will work with authorities to determine what caused the crash. Full transcript >>

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Words in the News: Spaceship

This is the moment Virgin Galactic's SpaceShipTwo rocket exploded in the air during a test flight, killing one pilot and seriously injuring another. The rocket belonging to billionaire Sir Richard Branson's space tourism venture exploded in a fireball during a test flight before crashing in the Mojave Desert in California. A Virgin Galactic spokesman said the rocket "suffered a serious anomaly" after a test flight conducted by partner business Scaled Composites. Full story >>

VOCABULARY
A spaceship is avehicle that can travel in space. • NASA's newest crewed spaceship will launch in December on a first-ever test flight that will take it thousands of miles away from Earth.Related articles

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