ANN Has Withheld This ID Until Scaled Notified Families

The Scald Composites organization has officially released the names of the crew that flew SpaceShipTwo, N339SS, on its final flight.

An official statement released late Saturday states, "The Scaled Composites family lost a respected and devoted colleague yesterday, Michael Alsbury, who was the co-pilot for the test flight of SpaceShipTwo. Peter Siebold, the Director of Flight Operations at Scaled Composites, was piloting SpaceShipTwo. He is alert and talking with his family and doctors. We remain focused on supporting the families of the two pilots and all of our employees, as well as the agencies investigating the accident. We ask at this time that everyone please respect the privacy of the families."

While the FAA, NTSB and Scaled reps are already heavily involved in the initial stages of the investigation and few facts are clear, our sources indicate that while Mike Alsbury, 39 and the Father of two, was killed in the accident, that Peter Siebold is expected to survive his serious injuries. Needless to say the Scaled Composites group, as well as the rest of the private and commercial space industry, is stunned and reeling from this tragedy.

The official FAA info report (filed late Friday) states that, "Just after 10 a.m. PDT today, ground controllers at the Mojave Spaceport lost contact with SpaceShipTwo, an experimental space flight vehicle. The incident occurred over the Mojave Desert shortly after the space flight vehicle separated from WhiteKnightTwo, the vehicle that carried it aloft. Two crew members were on board SpaceShipTwo at the time of the incident. WhiteKnightTwo remained airborne after the incident. Under a voluntary cooperative agreement with the FAA the NTSB is leading the accident investigation with FAA support.

The FAA is responsible for regulating the U.S. commercial space transportation industry. The agency requires commercial space operators to take steps to ensure the safety of members of the public and property on the ground. Additionally, the FAA’s Office of Commercial Space Transportation provides compliance monitoring and safety inspectors for each FAA-authorized launch. Regulations require that crew members are aware of the inherent risks involved in the operation and acknowledge them."

ANN is in close contact with our friends and colleagues in the industry and is preparing a more detailed report for Monday. In the meantime, we send our best wishes and prayers to Mike's family, especially his wife Michelle and children, as well as our fervent hopes for a speedy recovery for Pete Siebold.

More to follow...

FMI: www.scaled.com