campaign -- campaigner we got. >> follow us on twitter. tweet me at wolf blitzer. tweet the show at cnn sit room. and join us on monday sand watch us live or dvr the show so you won't miss a moment. that is it for me. thanks for watching. i'm wolf blitzer in "the situation room." erin burnett outfront starts right now. "outfront" tonight, breaking news. a virgin gal actick shas ship crashed. the second in one week. and one of the most wanted suspected, eric frein, how did he evade a thousand offers looking for him and survive for 48 days on the run. and a judge said kaci hickox is free to roam.

and this as another ebola victim comes forward. let's go "outfront." good evening. i'm rihanna keeler in front for erin burnett. breaking news. explosion in space. the experimental rocket to take people into space next year exploded in mid air in a test flight over the mojave desert today. seen just before the explosion, experienced a catastrophic failure shortly after separating from the carrier plane. that was at about 10:12 a.m. pacific time. one pilot died and the second pilot is injured. large pieces of the wreckage is scattered across the desert with the loss of a pilot. it was an especially tough day for mission officials. >> we are human and it hurts. >> this is the second american spacecraft to explode in flight

this week. tuesday a nasa antares blew up seconds after launch the pad. and number two was considered the future of space flight and commercial air travel. and it was scheduled to take tourists into outer space starting sometime next year. more than 700 customers have already paid as much as a quarter million dollars for a ride. we are out front tonight in the mojave desert and paul you got to the edge of the debris field after the explosion. tell us more what you are hearing about it? >> reporter: one area of prime focus, a new fuel mixture. officials confirming they used a mixture for the first time in the air today they had only tested on engines on the ground. people who we talked to say they did not see any massive blast, it just separates from the

rocket and becomes a glider. and at the debris field they say there is at least five separate debris fields and on the edge officers on the ground told us the pilot who was deceased was still in his seat inside of the space ship and then down the road further they found the sur viving pilot and -- surviving pilot and he had successfully deployed his parachute. he was taken to a nearby hospital, antelope valley, where he suffered moderate to major injuries. >> and you spoke to the chief executive, stewart wit after the press conference and we understand he was very emotional off camera. what did he say about this tragic event? >> it was somber. because we come out here and it is richard branson holding court, a joyful thing talking about space ship two and after he said these pilots were his heroes and they were very experienced and he swallowed extremely hard and said we would all march up to the mouth of

hell with each other and we'd be have happy about it. and again just a sad and somber mood inside where they are trying to figure out what happened to space ship two. >> a tough day for them personally. paul in the mohave desert, thank you. and virgin galactic is considered the best hope in private space exploration. in fact prior to today's tragedy, they were hoping to start flights in months. dan simon is "outfront" with this story. >> reporter: for $250,000 a ride, this is the vehicle designed to take passengers to space. the virgin galactic spaceship two is a sub orbital vehicle where you can get an experience of weightlessness and a glorious view of the earth. it began operating in 2050 and within three years they had $30 million in deposits.

>> what would you like to see happen to virgin gal actick in the future? >> we have plenty of dreams. our initial ambitions are to create more astronauts in a year than nasa created astronauts in 60 years. so that is going to be tremendously exciting to do and i think that will start in about a year's time. >> reporter: that time line turned out to be overly ambitious. i interviewed branson in 2011 as space ship two travelled to san francisco. it was the first time a spacecraft had landed at a international airport. >> you are going from none to 200,000 miles an hour in seconds and once in space you unbuckle and look back at earth through the wonderful big windows we have in the space ship and you float around and you have the ride of a lifetime and become an

astronaut. >> reporter: space ship two is designed to work like this. first carried under a mothership, the white knight two, evolved from earlier prototypes and when it hits 50,000 feet it is released and with the rocket travels 62 miles above the earth. on the website they say safety is the north store and engaged in the culture of the space line operation. something branson has stressed repeatedly in interviews. >> i'm not going to take my son into space until i'm sure we have everything right and the team won't let me go into space until we're sure we have everything right. >> reporter: the project, branson said, includes 300 of the best rocket scientists in the world. in the days up to the flight, if they were successful, space tourism could begin as early as next year. with this mishap there are major questions about the fudgeure of the -- the future of the

project. dan simon, cnn. tonight with us, mark kelly and cnn aviation analyst miles o'brien and richard quest. thank you for being with me tonight. and miles, there is a lot we don't know here. what all could have gone wrong? >> oh, any number of things, rihanna. i was looking at some of the footage and it appears that the nitrous oxide tank, which is the oxidizer for the fuel is in tact. so that would send you away to believe there was an explosion. it is quite possible there was some sort of other in-flight breakup of some kind. you can't put the blinders on at this stage. i talked to some people on the scene there and no one reported seeing the flash of an explosion. of course it was at very high altitude and i was talking to somebody on the ground. so there is a lot that is open here and we shouldn't presuppose

anybody. >> and captain kelly, i know virgin galactic is looking out, they switched fuel mixtured and only tested that new fuel mixture on the ground and there is a question of whether that could have contributed to that. do you think, though, if there was not an explosion, that that is something that could have happened here, contributed to this? >> well, i mean it possibly could. you just don't know. and one of the things you don't want to do in an accident investigation is to have some presupposed idea of what caused the accident. you want to collect the data and look at the lefds and let it lead -- the evidence and let it lead to you what happened. i didn't hear anybody say there was an explosion. and at those speeds and we don't know how fast it was going when it came apart. but obviously they had some sort of catastrophic failure that

could come from an explosion or just a structural failure in the vehicle itself is a possibility. >> and this is of course a very sad day personally for the space community, having lost one of their friends. it is also very sad in that there is this question mark about this immediate future of space travel. we heard richard, erin burnett interviewed sir richard branson a month ago and here is what he told her. >> the space ship two that you are getting ready to go on yourself, i know, is that still on track for next year? >> it's hopefully on track for this year. so the test flight into space will be before the end of this year. >> okay. >> and myself and my son will start the program in the spring -- early spring of next year. the rockets are now fully working. it has taken longer than we

thought but we're finally there. >> richard, this was a huge draw, had 700 tickets sold, costing more than a quarter of a million each, talking about celebrities like justin beiber and leonardo dicaprio and certainly this will deter people from wanting to go up initially now that the risks are so apparent. >> i think some will probably decide to have a second think about it or thought about it. and others will say, no, we're still going with it because it is the future and we want to be part of that experience. there is little doubt -- there is absolutely no doubt in my mind that this will delay. obviously there will be the most thorough investigation and that won't happen in two or three days or even weeks or probably even months. you're talking about a full-scale inquiry into what happened with a long, detailed report and dependent upon that

will be the recrimminations and the changes that take place. were there too many commercial pressures, was it a failure of the science or the engineering, was it a failure -- an organizational failure in what they were doing. there is no question it will be delayed but there will be many people prepared to pay that sort of money because when it does finally take passengers -- here is the point brianna, when it does finally take passengers it will be as safe as it can be. >> it is a dream of so many people. and believe we have some new pictures just coming in that show, i believe, the moment of explosion. so we've been asking miles and mark, we've been asking was there an explosion. you're looking at this picture here, it appears perhaps that there was indeed -- as you look at this, what do you read from this, miles? >> i don't see a picture of

explosion. if you imagine the fuel on board, if it did detonate -- imagine for what we saw for example with challenger. that was an explosion. this is not what i see there. i see some fire there, but that could very well be the rocket plume before the rocket burned out. i see pieces which tell you it has broken up. so again, i don't want to put the blinders on here but what i see there are signs of in-flight breakup. so we just don't know. yes, they spent a long time with one type of engine, almost ten years if you go back to the x prize days and switch fuel late in the game. and there was some modifications to the engine, the actual physical plumbing of the engine in order to do that. did that under mind the structural integrity of the craft. that is another thing to consider. but we shouldn't come to cop collusions right this moment. >> mark what, are you seeing there? >> well i'm not seeing anything. >> don't have a monitor. i'm just looking into the camera so i don't have the opportunity

to look at it. so i can't help you there. >> all right. sorry about that. we certainly would want to get your perspective on this. miles, you make an excellent point. we'll get your opinion on this later mark. thanks to all of you. and up next, one of the fbi's most wanted, eric frein captured for murder after almost seven weeks on the run. how did he evade the the manhunt for so long. and plus a judge rules in favor of kaci hickox. will this be the ruling across the country. and another ax attack on another unsuspect iing officer. how can they protect themselves from future attacks? [ female announcer ] we help make secure financial tomorrows a reality

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tonight one of the fib's most wanted fugitives on the run for seven weeks in pennsylvania's pocono mountains now behind bars an charged with murder. and prosecutors say they will seek the death penalty after he allegedly shot and killed one officer and injured a second. eric frein arrived at court this morning under heavy police guard as outlookers shouted him down.

we are outfront tonight in milford, pennsylvania. >> coward. >> you low-life. >> reporter: 48 days after a pennsylvania state trooper was fatally shot in cold blood, an extraordinary moment. >> are you sorry? >> eric, what happened to your face. >> reporter: frein taken into court and charged with first-degree murder bound in the handcuffs of the officer he's accused of killing. >> we thought if we had an opportunity, that would be a fitting tribute to corpal dickson and a message to law enforcement and police that we are a brotherhood and never rest until this fugitive was apprehended. >> reporter: in his booking photo, a fresh cut on his nose and a swollen left cheek, injuries police say were not suffered during his arrest. joe taggan was the first person in line for court today. >> why? >> i wanted to see the face of evil. >> why is that so important?

why is that such a drive for you? >> because in our community, we're a local bedroom community and to have someone kill a state trooper and attempt to kill a second one and then be running around in the woods is kind of unsettled. >> reporter: after nearly seven weeks of fear and some criticism at the length of the investigation, officials are enjoying redemption. >> having a guy out there, an alleged cop kill we are a rifle scope, booby-trapped explosives and it is difficult to run in there. they had to methodically clear all of the areas. >> all of the parties that were part of the investigation knew we were pushing him and that ultimately sooner or later, we'd come across him. >> reporter: a u.s. marshal's team found frein at an abandoned airport 40 miles away from where the corporal was killed. investigators say he had a mission to kill, that frein ambushed two state police officers outside of the police

barracks and then fled into th r thor -- into the pennsylvania mountains. thousands of people searched these woods. according to the criminal complaint, among the items they were found were two bombs and rifle and ammunition of same type that killed the officer and wounded the other. >> the families of the two police officers and the pennsylvania state police have suffered an unmanageable loss of proportions and they will never be the same but today we find some comfort as a community that we are taking these next steps towards justice. >> reporter: now authorities say they have an extraordinarily strong case against mr. frein. everything from the ammunition and the casings they found in other areas to the rifle they found in his hideout in that

hangar. searches back to 2012 about escaping a manhunt and caches in the wounds and the bombs they found out there and his own writings detailsing wh ining --g what he did. >> marquez, thank you. and i want to bring in commissioner frank nunez. and tell us now that you have air frein, looking back on this search, that took hundreds and hundreds of officers, how was he able to evade them for all of that time, for nearly seven weeks? >> well, you have to understand that he's been planning something like this for several yea years, in this particular wooded area that goes for several hundred akers and it is very rugged terrain. and he's planted caches of food and what he would take with him and

also he's been practicing by doing these re-enactments in which he would play the part of a vietnam soldier trying to evade being captured. and we've talked to the people that were participating with him in these things and they were never able to catch him. no one was ever able to find eric frein in the woods. >> tell us about the -- i guess, not just the condition he was in, but his demeanor when he was taken into custody by officers? >> he was kplooi-- he was compl. he was tired. and basically he did everything they told him to do. and offered no resistance whatsoever. >> his face appears to be bloodied here. what happened there? >> i'm not sure. apparently he had some injured, after all he's been in the woods for an extended period of time. but how he got those injuries, i

don't know. but it happened before he was taken into custody. >> it happened before he was taken into custody. he was -- >> yes. >> -- found near this abandoned airport at a hanger, do you have reason to believe he might have been using that as his base the entire time? >> i don't believe he was using that as his base the entire time. i think -- one of the ideas of our search and the pattern we were doing was to try to keep him on the move. so i think he eventually ended up there. it was a place he was familiar with. and i don't think -- he certainly wasn't there the whole time because we found signs of him in other parts of the wooded area. >> his guns were actually found, is that correct, inside of the hangar? he was not armed when he was discovered? >> that's correct, yes. >> did that surprise you? >> the handgun -- well, no,

actually. as you may have known, if you followed this case, he had a real affinity for the serbian army and in particular serbian snipers. and so we studied their tactics. and the tactics are to do surveillance without carrying your rifle with you. now why he didn't take his handgun i don't know, but on several sightings when we saw him in the woods, he did not have the rifle with him. and it is cumbersome and hard to hide when you have the rifle with you. >> and certainly this is a search a long time coming, seven weeks. we appreciate you being on the program to talk about it, commissioner. >> thank you very much. it's a great day for law enforcement and the people of pike and monroe county. "outfront" next, the nurse at the center of the ebola quarentine battle claims a major victory tonight as oregon deals

with another possible case of ebola. and the dramatic image of another ax attack. the police man injured as the attacker got away. how can police stop the attacks from happening again? ♪ ♪

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breaking news, kaci hickox is speaking out after a judge in maine rejects the state's call for a mandatory quarentine for the nurse who recently returned from treating ebola patients in sierra leone. >> if i develop symptoms i would do the right thing, i would immediately isolate myself. i would contact the health department. would you ensure that i was -- i would ensure that i was transported safely to a facility that could test me. and i would get that test. and if it tested positive, that would be terrible, but i know what to do if the symptoms start. >> she is now free to go to stores, restaurants, movie theaters, but she isn't totally in the clear. alexander field is out front from fort kent, maine. >> the nurse who took on the

policies of two governors claims a major victory. >> i am humbled today by the judge's decision. >> reporter: put in an isolation tent in a hospital in new jersey and then sent to maine where she was told to quarentine at home she is a flash point over the fiery debate of how to handle the threat of ebola. now the judge has ordered almost all restrictions lifted. she'll still undergo direct health monitoring, which means a daily visit from a cdc health official and will have to travel with health officials and immediately notify them if she developed symptoms. >> i think he took a risk. >> reporter: the maine's governor called it unfortunate but said they would follow the law. the judge said whether the fear is rational or not, it is present and it is real. he added, kaci hickox should guide herself accordingly.

>> she can go to the pizza play place and get a slice of pizza and go to the movie theater tonight and go to the public square and dance and celebrate. >> reporter: a previous order barred her from going to work or restaurants, getting within three feet of people, among other restrictions. >> i've never taken a walk with this many pop -- many people before. >> reporter: she fought for freedom but hasn't thought what she will do with it yet. >> i'm taking things minute by minute. i completely understand that. and i am sensitive and that is one of the reasons i'm saying this battle isn't over. we still need to continue it discussion and educating ourselves and i don't want to make anyone uncomfortable. >> you heard kaci hickox say things she will take things minute by minute and tonight she plans to stay home and make dinner and watch a movie. and now everyone's focus is

returning to a woman in portland, oregon who was being monitored and she developed a fever and taken to a hospital and put into isolation where further testing can be done. >> we should know well. alexander field for us in maine. thank you. and outfront tonight, paul cowan with dr. iefran walks, thanks for being with us. and paul, you have this lawyer for kaci hickox saying we won. that is what he said. do you see this as a complete victor your. >> the lawyers like to say they won, but in reading the judge's decision i think he got half of the loaf of bread. because although the judge said he wasn't going to impose a quarentine in the sense she would have to stay in her home, the judge did say she would remain under court order to continue to be monitored to see whether she develops a fever or other symptoms of ebola. so she's still under the

jurisdiction of maine, she's still being followed pursuant to the law. so i would say the judge gave a little bit to both sides. >> and even kaci hickox did call it a compromise so maybe that is a tipoff to where they ended. dr. walks, when you look at this as a test case for the country, we're seeing this perhaps -- this could apply to other places, the states here, they have the right to create their own public health policies but should they and should the state courts have this rule, do you think? >> as a former state health officer, i can say absolutely. states should have the right to do that. but this is a victory today for public health. it is a victory for all of the workers who want to go and fight ebola where it is in west africa and want to come home carefully. this is really very clear for me, a big victory. and here is why. if you are not sick, you won't give anybody ebola. if you are sick, you want to get treatment right away. so what the judge basically said

is, we know you want to test yourself regularly, we know you want to follow the protocols, we're just going to write that down and make sure it is clear you will follow those and someone will hake you make sure so the accountable isn't just with you, the accountability is also with the state to support the science. this kind of clarity is really a good thing for the american public. so many stories and so much abundance of caution kind of language, let's follow the science. if you are not sick, you can't give it to people, if you get sick, you want to get treated right away, we've seen in the last several weeks, if you get treated right away, boy, your outcome is pretty good. >> that is certainly the case we've seen. and paul, when you see this and this falls under the purview of state's, but are we seeing this piecemeal, overseeing of what folks are returning from the affected areas, what they need to undergo. is this really something that the state's should be dealing

with? >> i think that it is, because look at the town that we're talking about here for this town in maine on the canadian border. a town of 4,000 people and a very rural area. the kind of threat that kaci hickox might pose to her neighbors is minimal because she practically has no neighbors. if this were new york city and she were riding in the subway and sneezing or touching a railing that somebody else would touch, there might be a need for more intensive quarentine. and what disturbs me about her behavior is not that in her individual case, i trust her, she's a nurse and humanitarian, she would monitor herself. but if this epidemic spreads, you are not talking about the kaci hickox, you are talking about ordinary people saying i don't care, i don't want to stay confined to my house or hospital and those are the people you need quarentines for in the heavily populated area.

you can't throw out the need for quarentine, it could be necessary in the future. >> that is a good point. and very quickly before we go. a new development in canada today, the nation has suspended issuing visas to foreign nationals from ebola-affects countries, do you think this is the right move? >> i don't think so. i think that we have to allow people to be honest with us. i don't want someone going to a different country and coming in and trying to take tylenol to hide their fever. we know if you get sick, you want help right away because that is how you save your life. and the focus has to be in west africa and in allowing people to be very honest because we want to know who is sick and who is at risk. >> you don't want them to find another way in, for instance u. want them to be very forthcoming with this. dr. paul and walks, thank you very much. and days before election

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tonight we are down to the wire, just four days to go until election day and control of the senate hangs in the balance. while republicans are expected to hold on to the house, they need to pick up six seats in the senate to take control. and our new polling tonight shows it will be a very close fight in two of the key states republicans need to win. iowa, this is an open seat. democrat tom harkin is retiring and republican joni ernst has two points over bruce braley. and kay haggan holding an advantage over tom tillis. and john king for us at the magic wall. and we're looking at iowa and north carolina, two of the ten states that are too close to call four days before the election and both are within the margin of error. >> that is what makes it so

fascinating, going into the wild last weekend. the races, the republicans leading in iowa and the democrat in north carolina. we don't know what will happen. let's look at the map and see how they factor in. the 55 democrats includes two independents and that is the state of play on election morning. what will play out through the night. the gold ones are the ones we are watching most closely. we know the democrats will win in new mexico and we'll start with this. the republicans need a net gain of six. they think this is step one. republicans are confident, democrats don't push back too hard that the republicans will pick up montana, south dakota and west virginia. and that will get you to 45-45. and then you have ten states left. and that is where all of the races are in isn-- single-digit. and i'll focus on the blues. and in iowa, we told you joni ernst was leading.

and democrats have to hussle. democrats are hoping this is what happens. they hope to win colorado as well but i'm giving that one to the republicans because they show cory gardner breaking away. if the democrats can hold iowa and new hampshire, no guarantees, remember the republican is leading in iowa, but democrats need to figure out how to outhussle, if they can do that, then we are at 47-46. and then what is left is mostly red states. you can to say advantage to republicans but there are whacky wild cards. and here is one. the red states, kansas, kentucky and georgia. and democrats are increasingly confident that the independent greg orman will win in kansas. republicans are trying frantically to save the street but republicans are telling me they think the democrats might be right. >> and this could be a very long election. john king at the magic wall, thank you so much. and one big campaign issue in so many race this is year, ebola. dana bash is out front.

>> reporter: republican scott brown is relentlessly making ebola a issue in his senate race. >> as i speak to the residents in new hampshire there is a fear these diseaseez will come into our country. >> reporter: he is succeeding and down a few months ago, he is now out front, and jumping from isis, immigration and now ebola. >> people look at it and say, scott brown is fear mongering to win a senate seat again. >> what i hear is that people are concerned -- >> reporter: brown is hardly alone in seizing on the ebola crisis. in dramatic races there are ten going into election day and republicans see ebola as exhibit a in a narrative they were already pushing, government incompetence with president obama at the helm. republican joanie earnest in iowa. >> i think we are being reactive as a government. i think the president should

have taken the lead on these issues. >> her democrat opponent is a sitting house member who bends over backwards to be part of the solution. >> i went back to washington for the ebola oversight hearing and i asked tough questions for the cdc and the national institutes of health and fda and others. >> a majority of americans, 54%, believe the federal government is doing a good job in dealing with the ebola crisis, according to a cnn poll this week. and a whopping 71% say they are very or somewhat confident in the government's acts to prevent a epidemic. but some are still feeling it feeds into a broader concern about president obama. georgia republican david purdue is closing in his tight race. >> if you are as frustrated as i am in the dysfunction in

washington and think we can do better, then i would expect your trust. >> the ultimate weapon is trashing both parties that helped greg orman tie up his race in ruby red kansas against a republican. >> both mitch mirk connell and harry reid had a been partisan by far too long. >> but so many are so turned off it is hard for my candidate to get through. >> one got created, turning to song. [ singing ] ♪ >> dana bash, cnn reporting from battleground states across the county. that is some campaigning. and "outfront" next, another ax-wielding man attacks a policeman, this time in washington, d.c. now there are new rules to protect cops on the street. will they work? plus we'll have the latest on the spacecraft that exploded

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are on high alert after an axe attack on a washington police officer. that suspect is still on the loose tonight. and this is the second axe attack on a police officer in as many weeks. you can see that axe there coming right out of the officer's window. officials say that the suspect smashed that blade into the patrol car early this morning. and this is an axe attack that comes just days after a man used a hatchet to attack a group of new york police officers standing in broad daylight. rene marsh is "outfront" in washington with more. >> reporter: a large axe lodged inches from a d.c. police officer's head as he sat in the driver's seat. it was another attack on a uniformed officer, this time happening in a residential neighborhood in a d.c. neighborhood. >> he was ambushed. he didn't see the person coming, and he was ambushed. he was able to get out of the car and actually chase the

suspect. >> reporter: the axe missed the officer but he dislocated his shoulder in the scuffle with the person still on the run. it is the second attack on an officer in just as many days. earlier, an unarmed man with an axe struck one police officer in the arm, the other in the head before being shot and killed. the bloody weapon left behind. nypd called it an act of terrorism. >> certainly is alarming. hard to say at this point whether it is a trend, obviously, there has been two incidents. and two incidents is too many in any situation where we're having people take the liberty of attacking police officers. >> reporter: this comes at a time when radical jihadists have threatened attacks against officers in the west. a man in canada with jihadist connections shot and killed a guard after the war memorial. before opening fire in the

parliament just two days after the man was run over. this week, homeland security secretary jay johnson ordered increased security at more than 900 federal buildings across the u.s. >> any time you have these things happen it makes it very easy for the environment to produce copycats. and hopefully the one today was a random act and the police will have this person in custody relatively soon. >> reporter: police in the nation's capital don't have a motive for this morning's axe attack, but nothing has been ruled out. >> well, the question remains was this latest attack a copycat incident or was there a terror incident? we still do not know. but what we do know these attacks have prompted immediate increase in officers in new york city. and officers are told they must travel in pairs. there is a buddy system this. and the police chief has been

sending officers two messages per day reminding them to stay on high alert. >> and officers everywhere must be concerned that this could be a trend, rene marsh, thank you so much. "outfront," more on our top story. that explosion of a virgin galactic spaceship over the mohave desert today. and then we'll take you inside the very secretive virgin plant where the next spaceship is being built. we'll have that next. moved some new cars. hauled a bunch of steel. kept the supermarket shelves stocked. made sure everyone got their latest gadgets. what's up for the next shift? ah, nothing much. just keeping the lights on. (laugh) nice. doing the big things that move an economy. see you tomorrow, mac. see you tomorrow, sam. just another day at norfolk southern. of connecting with family and friends. ities...

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. breaking news, one pilot is dead, another injured after a virgin galactic spaceship exploded during mid-air during a test flight over the mohave desert today in california. this dramatic picture coming just moments ago. a photographer on the ground capturing the aircraft, tearing apart in the air, you can see it there. it is a devastating setback for the company and also the founder, sir richard branson. earlier this year, our rachel crane was given unprecedented access to the manufacturing facility in the mohave desert. take a look. >> reporter: located just 100 miles northeast of los angeles, this facility is home to the manufacturing arm called the spaceship company. here they put together the

virgin galactic fleet. >> we're working on the fuselage for our spaceship. >> reporter: virgin's mohave facility is divided into two parts, one, a clean area where composites for the ship's skip is made, the other, the area for a test hangar where the ships are assembled. >> you are not going many bolts or rivets. >> reporter: the current line of craft are carried 250,000 feet into the air by their mother, whiteknight, and blast off 100 miles an hour, reaching between 250 and 60,000 miles above earth. originally, virgin hoped to fly people by the edge of space by 2007. but that year, the company suffered a setback when a

prototype rocket exploded killing three workers. since then, that timeline has changed with their latest goal to send up commercial passengers by mid-2015. but with this incident, even that date could be in question. rachel crane, cnn, new york. thank you for joining us, "ac360" starts right now. good evening, thank you for joining us, you cannot get any closer to a story than this. tonight, the man who captured fugitive eric frein. we begin with breaking news, our first look at the last moments of a spaceship designed to be so safe that one day it would carry paying customers out of this world. billionaire richard branson dreamed it up, building a brand, galactic, around it. today, during a test flight, something went very, very wrong. a test pilot has died, another was hurt. today we got a look at what the