The crash of Virgin Galactic’s SpaceShipTwo resulted in one death and one
serious injury, and that has been enough for a small number of future space
fliers to request refunds on their tickets.
by John
Tyburski
Copyright © Daily
Digest News, KPR Media, LLC. All rights reserved.
The
private space flight enterprise suffered a major setback recently when Virgin
Galactic’s SpaceShipTwo crashed after a
malfunction during a test flight. One test pilot died in the crash, and another
was injured. This disaster has prompted a few of the people who planned to take
a ride on Virgin Galactic’s future space flights to ask for their money back.
Others who
were confident about the endeavor to travel into space on a private vessel are
now unsure. One unnamed ticket-holder called Craig Willan by phone to discuss
giving up his reservation on the future flight.
“I told
him, ‘Don’t,'” Willan said. “Don’t do it. You don’t want to get into that for a
couple of reasons. One is, it would be a potential run on the bank. And the
second thing is, it sends the wrong signal to humankind. This is a very
important phase in the gestation of something new, and we don’t want to screw
up this pregnancy.”
Willan is
in the number 8 slot on Virgin Galactic’s passenger list and is an aerospace
industry veteran. The caller did not cancel his reservation after all. However,
about three percent of over 700 customers have sought refunds. That’s about two
dozen refunds for tickets that have sold for as much as $250,000.
“We are
humbled that all but a small percentage of our Future Astronaut community is,
if possible, more committed than before,” Clare Pelly, astronaut experience
manager at Virgin Galactic, told NBC News in an email. “Also, the tiny minority
requesting refunds are largely all supportive of the project, but due to
personal circumstances have decided time is no longer on their side for their
spaceflight.”
Peter
Ulrich von May explained why he wanted out. “I subscribed seven years ago at
63, am still an active private pilot and in good health but who knows how long
it will now take,” said Ulrich von May.
Surprisingly,
two new customers have purchased tickets since the crash, according to Pelly.
“I’m a
believer, and the fact that things got harder make[s] me believe my support,
however small, may be more useful now. Sign me up. I’m in,” said one customer
in an email message to Virgin Galactic.
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