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Virgin Galactic's Space Ship Crashes in Mojave Desert; Deaths Reported in Space Ship Crash

Aired October 31, 2014 - 14:30   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN ANCHOR: You are watching CNN. I'm Brooke Baldwin.

Back to breaking news from Virgin Galactic. As we learned, according to the company, the Space Ship 2 has experienced an in-flight anomaly during a test flight today. These are pictures, renditions of what this piece of aircraft looks like. They've been planning for years and years to sell these tickets, these incredible opportunity to take passengers just to the beginning of outer space, to allow people to experience what that must feel like. This has been a long time coming for Virgin Galactic. What specifically an in-flight anomaly is, that's what we're working on confirming.

Miles O'Brien, CNN aviation specialist.

You know a lot about this. Can we begin with, what do we know. I'm guessing you don't know specifics about what this anomaly is, correct?

We lost Miles.

OK. As we work to get Miles O'Brien back on the phone, because he is the person I would love to talk to, Stephanie Elam is with me.

Stephanie Elam, let's focus on what we know about this Space Ship 2.

Guys, throw the pictures up so our viewers can see what this looks like.

This has been years in the making to take these people up into the periphery of space. What do we know?

STEPHANIE ELAM, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Right. The whole idea here is to let an average, regular, old citizen of earth to find their way and feel that weightlessness at the edge of space. What would happen here with Space 2 is you go up to the edge of space. The pilots would actually remove themselves from the rocket as it's on its way up, and six passengers inside are supposed to be able to get that weightless feeling for a few minutes. Engines would be off. They could take those pictures. Do whatever they want. Say they were in space and get back into their seats and then glide back to earth. That's the idea behind this rocket to allow people to do that. This is not something that has been used yet from what we understand. This is a test run it looked like was happening here today going on

out in the desert out here in California. The idea was to be able to really just allow anyone who wanted to and who could afford to feel what it was like to be in that weightlessness of space to allow them to do that with two pilots on this one which is a bigger version than the one they had before. That's what the idea here is behind this. Still trying to get clarity on exactly what happened. Trying to get clarity on the pilots. We're now getting visuals in that are coming in from one of our affiliates in Los Angeles, KABC. They are seeing activity out here in the Mojave Desert of what has happened. We are hearing that there was a crash. Still waiting to confirm that as well. And trying to find out what has happened with the pilots onboard. Unconfirmed reports at this point that one pilot may have perished. We're trying to confirm that -- Brooke?

BALDWIN: Let me jump in, Stephanie Elam. Stay with me.

As we look at live pictures over the Mojave Desert, you can see the area cordoned off with police tape.

Miles O'Brien, i hear we have you. Can you hear me, sir?

MILES O'BRIEN, CNN AVIATION ANALYST (voice-over): Yes, I can, Brooke. What a devastating week for commercial space this has been. This news is just a complete blow to the gut.

This was an important test for Virgin Galactic after nine months of down time as they worked to come up with a new engine for the Space Ship 2. As you may recall, the roots of this program go back to 2004, at which time Space Ship 1, a smaller craft developed by Scale Composites, proved they could fly to space in a short period of time. And when we say space, we're talking about 62 miles is the arbitrary line between space and being on the planet. Out of that, Sir Richard Branson, of the Virgin brand, decided to create the Virgin Galactic space line idea. And Space Ship 2 is a much larger version of the Space Ship 1 test craft. Two pilots and then --

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BALDWIN: We're losing you. Miles O'Brien, we just lost you.

What he was saying and that was interesting, so two pilots, he was talking about two pilots that would have been flying on the Space Ship 2, and that's when we lost him. We're working to get him again.

You're looking at live pictures. If you're just joining us, this is what we know. It's not a lot. We're working on getting more information. On the right side of your screen, this is live pictures over the desert. What we have is this. This Virgin Galactic, this Space Ship 2, part of this massive program under Sir Richard Branson to make a number of people, as Miles was explaining, just sort of to the edge of space, 62 miles out. That's that line between earth and space. Take them out when they pay the price to see what that looks like and what that feels like.

What has happened today, there was a test flight that potentially as miles was mentioning involved two pilots and so what we're looking at on the right side of your screen, we saw something on the ground. I can't speculate. I won't tell you what I thought it was. We know that fire officials responded to a report, in California, of an aircraft down in the desert. This is between two different highways in the middle of nowhere, as it appears.

But this spacecraft has been under development. There's a massive area in the Mojave Desert that's all part of this Virgin Galactic project to get people to this area, to this periphery of space. It's just northeast of Los Angeles. It is carried aloft by this specially designed jet. It's released before igniting the rocket for this suborbital thrill ride into space. And as Stephanie Elam was mentioning -- that just looks like brush. Trying to keep one eye on the screen and one eye on my notes. You go up into space and you return to earth gliding.

Guys, get my ear when we have Miles O'Brien.

Do we still have Stephanie?

Stephanie, are you with me?

ELAM: I am with you, Brooke. A lot going on here as we try to look at what's going on here in the desert to get these images cleared up. The other thing that passengers are supposed to get out of this is that incredible G-force. As we keep researching this, so they say, at one point, the acceleration will be nearly 2,500 miles per hour, more than three times the speed of sound, if you can imagine that. So that if you think about the intensity of a ride like that, and the need to test it and what that --

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BALDWIN: Let me jump in. Forgive me but we're getting information.

ELAM: Sure.

BALDWIN: Looking at the Virgin Galactic Twitter page. Let me read what they have. They have this update, multiple updates. "Virgin Galactic's partner, Scale Composites, conducted this powered test flight of this Space Ship 2 earlier today. During the test the vehicle suffered a serious anomaly resulting in the loss" -- they characterize this as a loss of Space Ship 2. They characterize this as a loss of Space Ship 2. The other craft landed safely. They say, "Virgin Galactic's first concern is status of the pilots." As Miles mentioned, there were two, which is unknown at this point in time. "We at Virgin Galactic will work closely with relevant authorities to determine the cause of the accident and provide updates as soon as possible."

Live pictures. Left side of the screen is what the Space Ship 2 would look like.

Let's get more information, guys.

Quick break. Back after this. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: Breaking news on CNN. I'm Brooke Baldwin. I want to welcome our viewers her in the United States and all around the world.

As this has been just been -- as Miles O'Brien, one of our CNN aviation analysts, said, this has been a shot to the gut really for the space industry this past week. First, a couple days ago, a rocket exploded over Virginia, and now what you are looking at -- you saw some lettering there. It said "Virgin," as in Virgin Galactic. Live pictures northeast of Los Angeles in the Mojave Desert.

What we're learning from Virgin Galactic is they were testing Space Ship 2. This is the flight that's supposed to carry celebrities, stars, Americans who are paying $250,000 to experience what it is like to see just the edge of space, some 62 miles out. And now you're looking at bits and pieces of this space ship. There's been an anomaly. Let's stay precise on the language. An in-flight anomaly led to what you are looking at here.

A number of people will be joining me, including Rachel Crane, one of our correspondents here at CNN covering all things space for a number of years. She's been inside Space Ship 2 and been to this major complex that's Virgin Galactic.

And I think what's most important to explain to our viewers is how this space ship is taken up in space, if they are test flighting this thing, with what's called the White Knight.

RACHEL CRANE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The White Knight lifts Space Ship 2 up to 50,000 feet and then Space Ship 2 launches off. White Knight 2 landed safely but Space Ship 2 suffered an anomaly. Clearly, it suffered a crash.

I've been inside Space Ship 2 and it's supposed to be piloted by two pilots. So I know they said there are pilots involved. We're not sure if those pilots were piloting White Knight 2 or actually Space Ship 2 itself.

BALDWIN: That's what we have from -- these tweets just coming in from Virgin Galactic as we try to stay abreast of what happened. That's the big question. We don't know. During this test, this vehicle, this Space Ship 2 suffered a serious anomaly resulting in the loss of the space ship. Their first concern is status of the pilots, which is unknown at this point in time.

Richard Quest, our aviation correspondent, is joining me here as well.

Richard Quest, tell me more.

RICHARD QUEST, CNN AVIATION CORRESPONDENT: Over the years, I've covered the Virgin Galactic since its inception, when it was announced in 2008 that this was going to be the first realistic space tourist operation. Since then, of course, as it's gone from stage to stage, Sir Richard has been extremely optimistic they would be on target for traveling passengers into orbit or into suborbital orbit to be more precise.

There has been an element, as Rachel will know, of differences on how high this craft would go and launching mechanism of the craft and the way it was to be flown. They have 700 people who are prepared to pony up $200,000. And Sir Richard himself -- this is interesting -- he said on that first flight that he would be on it with his family. I asked him numerous times, you know, isn't this very risky? He's always said, we won't do it if there's a risk.

What you're seeing now, of course, is very dramatic. Very different. And this was space tourism's best, perhaps, only hope in the near future, and something has gone very seriously wrong.

BALDWIN: Looking again at live pictures, Mojave, California. As you can see, looks like investigators on the ground trying to find the different pieces of this Space Ship 2. The big question, the status of the pilots.

Richard, would we know -- would the pilots be up in Space Ship 2 with parachutes?

QUEST: No. I don't know directly on that. I never heard that being suggested. Space Ship 2 was always and has always glided back. The idea is it takes off and gets released and goes into sub orbit. You have how many minutes of no gravity and then the thing glides back to earth.

The big problem that they have had with Space Ship 2, with the whole project, so far, is the old one of weight versus fuel versus thrust. That's why they have been experimenting, testing these new plastic- based fuels, which we're not sure if this was involved in this incident. That's what they've been trying to do. So far, Brooke, all of the tests have never reached the required speed and velocity to get the orbit up with the number of passengers, six passengers, into space and into lower orbit. That's what they've been playing around with.

Richard Branson said the first flight expected to be, intended to be March of next year. But as you can see, there was still much experimentation taking place. And now, of course, it becomes a very different story tonight.

BALDWIN: Right. Thus, the test flights. And as you point out, this is something that Sir Richard Branson has been so passionate about. He wanted to take that first flight along with his family, and then reportedly all the names we've within reporting, allegedly Steven Hawking, Ashton Kutcher, Justin Bieber.

QUEST: Just last year, I did a story on the commercial aspects of Virgin Galactic. Their office is less than a quarter mile from where CNN is based in London. We went to the place where they sell the actual rides and these high-net worth individuals, none of whom we were allowed to meet, none of whom we were given names of. But if you go and talk to them and you go talk to the people, many of whom are people were involved in Virgin Atlantic and have moved across to Virgin Galactic, and if you talk to their sales people, they have always put the highest premium on safety. Now we're trying to figure out where Sir Richard is. He lives most of

the year in the Caribbean on his island. He left the U.K. for tax reasons and is now based there. So we'll get touch with him, obviously, to see how this progresses.

BALDWIN: As we work to get in touch with Sir Richard, let me just hit pause with you. We have tweets, but more importantly, we have a statement from Virgin Galactic.

Poppy Harlow is joining me now.

Poppy, I know you have been to this area in Mojave, California. You're in touch with Virgin Galactic folks. What have they said?

POPPY HARLOW, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Let me read you this statement, Brooke, in full. It's important for people to hear it and then we'll talk more about what surrounds this.

This just came from Virgin Galactic. Quote, "Virgin Galactic's partner, Scale Composites, conducted a power test flight of Space Ship 2 earlier today. During the test, the vehicle suffered a serious anomaly resulting in the loss of the vehicle. The White Knight 2 carrier aircraft landed safely. Our first concern is the status of the pilots, which is unknown at this time. We will work closely with the relevant authorities to determine the cause of this accident and provide updates as soon as we are able to do so."

The headline, Brooke is unknown status of the pilots. Let me explain what this is. Scales Composites is the company that builds these space ships. And we were out in Mojave and we have that video for you last year doing a big story on this with Richard Branson. Space Ship 2 is the actual space ship that launches from the carrier, called the White Knight 2, and then goes into orbit. The White Knight 2 is like a plane that carries the space on top of it. That landed safely. But of course, the pilots would -- there would be pilots in Space Ship 2, and they do not know at this point in time what their status is, if they are OK or not.

We're also being told that Virgin Galactic will hold a press conference at the space port, located in the Mojave Desert in California, at 2:00 pacific time, so 5:00 eastern. But obviously, very troubling that this has happened and that they don't know the status of the pilots -- Brooke?

BALDWIN: Poppy, I remember your piece. I remember you being out with Sir Richard Branson and walking around that area of Mojave. This is something that he's been so incredibly passionate about, this program, getting people to that suborbital orbit.

HARLOW: You are so right. He said these projects of his that he's the most passionate about, personally means the most to him. He was planning and, at this point, has been planning to take his family along with him up first, once they got that final FAA approval. They were in those FAA approved test flights now. I just sat down with Richard Branson for an interview about a month ago at CNN, and he told me that he believed they would get that final approval for Virgin Galactic to bring normal people, like you and me and everyone that wants to go up there and can afford it, up to space as early as 2015. He was planning to take that flight with his family as early as the beginning of next year.

It is far too soon to know what this does long-term to this program, but you also have to think about the fact that this is a completely new -- completely new thing for the world to send people that are not astronauts up into space. And with something new, does come risk, and he acknowledged that. He said we will not make this public, we will not officially launch this past the test flights until we're 100 percent sure it's safe.

BALDWIN: This was supposed to be the first realistic space tourist trip.

HARLOW: Right.

BALDWIN: This has been a huge, huge deal.

Poppy Harlow, stay with me.

I have an astronaut on the line, Michael Massimino.

Can you hear me, sir?

MICHAEL MASSIMINO, ASTRONAUT (voice-over): Yeah, I hear you loud and clear.

BALDWIN: My goodness. What a week, between the rocket a couple days ago and now this Space Ship 2 with Virgin Galactic. It's a punch in the gut.

MASSIMINO: Yeah. It's a reminder that things can happen when you try to do bold things in space. You can have setbacks. I don't know much -- I'm hearing what I'm learning from you on this one with Virgin. We'll have to find out more before we can count on it. It could be a rough business.

BALDWIN: As someone, though, who has been, you know, to space, who has been part of the space program, and knowing that there are multiple private enterprises trying to get regular folks, if I may, not astronauts, such as yourself, who can afford that $250,000 ticket up to this suborbital orbit, it's a tragedy certainly when you consider there are multiple pilots who were on this Space Ship 2.

What do you know? I hear you saying that you're learning from me. What do you make of this notion of sending people up into 62 miles into space?

MASSIMINO: I think that, hopefully, we're at the brink of a new era where you have capability of these private enterprises where you have people who see the way to expand opportunities in space to experience space, but also a way to make money on it, and I think this is great. This is where the technology has gone in the past. Government leads the way and then commercial enterprise turns it into a business. Hopefully, we're at the brink of that where this becomes an industry where many people experience space and people can be successful businessmen and women doing this.

I think we've got right now -- I say I'm learning from you because the accident they had a couple days ago, with Orbital, was a cargo flight and no one was hurt. I think, in this case, it sounds like there may be a possibility of people being hurt. We don't know what the status is, and that's why I think we have to be cautious about what we say about this because, if that's the case, it would be a different situation.

BALDWIN: I think it may be a different situation, Michael Massimino, because -- and let me go to Los Angeles to our correspondent there, working to get more information as we talk about pilots.

Stephanie Elam, let me bring you in because you do have news on one of these pilots. Go ahead.

ELAM: Yes, it's sad news, Brooke. We confirmed through the California Highway Patrol that one person has died and that there's another person with major injuries after this Space Ship 2 accident. We would infer from this these were two pilots. This has not been confirmed. But we do know one person has died and the other injuries are serious at this point. That's what we're learning right now -- Brooke?

BALDWIN: Stephanie, stay with me.

Michael, assuming I still have you, when you now hear the news incredibly, incredibly tragic news, one pilot confirmed dead, the other suffering major injuries, you add what we're looking at here in Mojave, California, with what happened a couple days ago with that rocket that was supposed to take cargo and science projects and what not up to the international space station, how big of a setback is this?

MASSIMINO: Well, you know, the cargo flight was one situation where it's a setback. We have other ways to get cargo to the space station. These things are going to happen. This thing that you are describing now, I hear this as you're hearing it, and my heart is beginning to sink. I'm wondering who it is and, for whoever that person is, if it's someone that we know in the space community, wherever that person's family is, you know, this is a pretty bad day. I don't even know if that's the case, if it's someone that -- sounds like you have confirmation, which is a really bad day. I don't really know what else to say about that. I think that's what we need to concentrate on. And as far as setback goes, if that information is accurate, yeah, that's probably going to be quite a setback.

BALDWIN: Your heart is sinking. My heart is sinking.

Michael Massimino, NASA astronaut, on the phone with me here reacting to the tragic news today.