Richard Branson promises Virgin Galactic will learn from the recent crash

Virgin Group founder Richard Branson said Saturday at a press conference that Virgin Galactic will learn from its mistakes and continue its mission to send paying travelers into space, one day after its SpaceShipTwo crashed in the Mojave Desert on a test flight, killing one pilot and injuring another. “We’re not going to push on blindly,” he told media attending the presser in the Mojave Desert. “We’re going to learn from what went wrong”

Virgin Galactic founder Richard Branson said his team is dedicated to finding out what led to Friday’s fatal test flight of the SpaceShipTwo rocket plane, and that he and millions of supporters of commercial space travel “would like to see the dream living on.” The National Transportation Safety Board began its investigation Saturday into what led to the explosion over California’s Mojave Desert that killed one pilot, identified as 39-year-old Michael Alsbury, and injured a second, Peter Siebold, 43. Alsbury died at the scene, according to the Kern County Coroner’s Office. Siebold was headed to surgery Saturday, according to The Associated Press. Branson told reporters that the Virgin Galactic program would “not push on blindly.” “We owe it to our test pilots to figure out what went wrong. If we can overcome it, we’ll make absolutely certain that the dream lives on,” the British businessman added. Branson conceded that the program “fell short,” but pointed out that the early days of aviation were risky before they became safe.