Posthuman Blues

SpaceShipTwo Blast Kills 3, Injures 3

According to Burt Rutan, the owner of Scaled Composites, and the designer of the SpaceShipTwo craft being built for Virgin Galactic, the explosion occurred when workers were performing a "cold fire test". The workers were testing nitrous oxide fuel injectors, which deliver this oxidizer to the spaceship's hybrid rocket engine. The explosion was on a remote pad, and the fire was quickly contained; however, the damage was done.