The twist came in the evening Italian time: the American federal authorities (FAA) will not allow Virgin Galactic to fly pending the investigation on the flight in July in which Richard Branson as well as five other people had also participated. The Federal Administration Aviation wants to better understand what happened in July when the Virgin Galactic flight deviated from its intended trajectory. Then, presumably, the project will restart. And with flights also research involving the Italian Air Force and the National Research Council.
The FAA investigation
“Virgin Galactic may not return the SpaceShipTwo vehicle to flight until the FAA approves the final report on the accident investigation or determines that the incident-related issues do not affect public safety,” the FAA said in a statement. . So, for now it is only a matter of time, a delay in the timetable that provided for the mission at the end of September. Yesterday the press conference of the Italian Air Force and the CNR to explain the contents of the twelve experiments, four medical and eight technological ones of the “Virtute 1” mission, the first Italian scientific suborbital aboard the Spaceship-2 space plane.
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The Italian mission of the Air Force and CNR
The mixed crew of the Air Force and the National Research Council (CNR), led by Colonel Walter Villadei, space engineer and cosmonaut of the Air Force, flanked by Lieutenant Colonel Angelo Landolfi, doctor of the Air Force, and by the engineer Pantaleone Carlucci of Cnr. They must have been the first Italians and the first Europeans, who are preparing to face the first suborbital flight with scientific purposes. Among the mission objectives, a large experimental program to evaluate the effects of microgravity at different levels as well as increasing knowledge on the potential of the Spaceship-2 platform, of the “flight safety” criteria, supporting the country system to bring the ability to suborbital flight in Italy.
First suborbital flight dedicated to scientific research
Experiments to be carried out in the three minutes available during the two hours of the flight. To underline the importance of the experiments – now to be put back on the agenda – the president of the CNR, Maria Chiara Carrozza. A mission that recalls those of the early 1900s that led to the discovery of new routes from North to South of the world: “It is a new dimension that opens up enormous opportunities for economic growth for the country and for young people – said the Chief of Staff of the Air Force, Air Squad General Alberto Rosso, during the press conference to present the mission -. It represents a combination between public and private as well as for the civil-military one ». One of these opportunities is the construction in Italy of a spaceport also for commercial flights such as that of Grottaglie (Taranto) identified by ENAC and which will begin testing from 2023.
Virgin Galactic’s response
Meanwhile, Virgin Galactic CEO Michael Colglazier is now busy responding to the FAA investigation into the July 11 flight trajectory with Branson on board. In the evening, in a statement, Virgin Galactic stated that they were working “in close contact with the FAA trying to understand the causes of the problem and understand how to prevent this from happening in future missions”. The project, therefore, will not stop.