Nathaniel LeMaster

Scaled Composites just had an accident involving nitrous oxide. Two people were killed and four others critically injured. This is tough! This company is one of the leaders in the air/space field. They are not that big, I just hope that this does not halt any of their efforts…

http://www.reuters.com/article/newsOne/idUSN2625793820070727

http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/07/26/spaceport.blast/index.html

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-explode27jul27,0,3190584.story?coll=la-home-local

It seems that they were just doing a dry-run test, they were not supposed to be igniting the rocket… I am thinking that this is more of a handling issue than a engine failure, these type of engines have a very high rate of reliability and almost no chance of catastrophic failure.

Anyhow, pray for the families of these men.