In space, no one can hear a pin drop.
Richard Branson’s Virgin Galactic rocket was forced to land after parts fell off during its first space tourism flight in 2024.
On January 26th, during the latest spaceflight, Galactic 06, an “alignment pin came loose.” The company announced on Tuesday.
This pin was used to join the two halves of the Virgin Galactic spacecraft: the “mother ship” VMS Eve that steers the voyage, and the rocket that carries tourists into space.
There were eight people on board at the time of the incident, with four pilots splitting up into two aircraft, and the remaining four paying for the extra-atmospheric business trip.
Tickets for this out-of-this-world experience cost approximately $450,000.
Fortunately, the loose part did not pose a safety risk to the aircraft or its crew, and the aircraft returned to Virgin Galactic’s launch pad in New Mexico unharmed.
The company only noticed the pin falling out after conducting a post-flight review of the aircraft.
“No public injuries or damage to public property were reported,” the Federal Aviation Administration confirmed.
However, the spacecraft ran aground while the FAA investigated the so-called “accident.”
Alignment pins are used to ensure that the rocket carrying the tourists is aligned with the mother ship when joining the vehicles on the ground during pre-flight procedures.
“During docking flight, the alignment pin helps transfer drag and other forces from the spacecraft to the shear pin attachment assembly and to the mothership pylon and center wing as the vehicle climbs toward release altitude,” the company said. said.
“The shear pin fitting assembly remained attached to the mothership and was undamaged. Both parts have a role during docking flight, but they do not support the weight of the spacecraft and do not allow the spacecraft to be released. and has no active function.”
The paired aircraft typically remain connected to the mothership until they reach an altitude of 45,000 feet.
Virgin Galactic must produce a final report with corrective actions and will need FAA approval before another flight can take off.
The company is planning another voyage, its seventh in history, in the second quarter of 2024.
Virgin Galactic enjoyed its first commercial spaceflight in August 2023, nearly 20 years after Branson founded the company.
Since then, it has flown six times outside Earth’s atmosphere, the most recent of which suffered an array separation.
