certain richard branson says version is: -- sir richard branson is cooperating.for joining us. initially come it looked like it might be something wrong with the new fuel mix that had not been tested much. we are hearing that there might have been a defect with a function that helps the craft ascended to the atmosphere that could have been deployed early. can you give us an update? well, some elements of the press speculated that it was an and some press said it was fuel tanks and some people said it was rockets. the ntsb quite rightly said that and weshould speculate had to watch the footage and those of self-proclaimed experts. night andame out last said clearly that was not the fuel. the 400 wonderful engineers that worked on the side of the spaceship was not the case. the ntsb and the people that will speak about causes and they do a thorough investigation, that aey indicated was lever have impressed a few seconds sooner than it should ave been and we will leave it up to the ntsb to decide whether that had an effect on that was the cause. >> it is still early

how much of a delay until we really do see richard branson's dream come true? >> i think that is only a question that richard branson and his team can answer. they are dealing with a lot of difficult situations right now, and particularly with the loss of the crew. these were their friends. these were people that everybody worked with, were respected, and they looked up to, so they are going to have to get rid this period, and then they will have to make decisions about how they move on with the program and at what pace, but i think that many of the failures that we have seen in the past when we charge -- chart new territory are really kind of part of the process. unfortunately, when you are doing something risky, when you are doing something on the edge, when you are doing something that is new, there are always going to be areas that are risky, and i think there is really no other way to talk about it when you do something new. unfortunately, when you do have new products and technology, the products fail, or you do not experience reliability. when you have a

. >> richard branson promises a full investigation after that deadly disaster for virgin galactic. >>> kurdish fighters from syria and iraq join forces to battle isis. >>> and ukraine is launch -- and ukraine's controversial election. >>> our top stories, america's national transportation safety board says friday's virgin galactic space disaster was heavily documented. there were six cameras aboard when it suddenly crashed, killing one pilot and seriously injuring the other. more now on the pilots and the investigation from cnn's stephanie elam. >> we've now learned more about the pilots. we can tell you that the pilot that lost his lost, his name was michael alsbury. he was 39 years old. the pilot who survived, his name is peter siebold and he is 43 years old. at this point we know that the entire virgin galactic community is trying to figure out what's from here on now. what happens going forward depends upon what the nst -- ntsb discovers. they are looking into this crash. this is the first space craft-related crash they were taking the lead on. although they were part of the colum

let's now listen in to richard branson. >> thank you very much for coming.s is obviously a very tough time for everybody who works at virgin galactic, who works for this spaceship company and who works for scale composites. most importantly our thoughts remain with the families of the brave scale pilots and all who have been affected by this tragedy. we are determined to find out what went wrong and are working with the authorities to get that information. it is too early for me to add any details of the investigation at this stage. we've always known that commercial space travel is an incredibly hard project. we've been undertaking a comprehensive testing program for many years and safety has always been our number one priority. this is the biggest test program ever carried out in commercial aviation history to ensure that this never happens to the public. the bravery of test pilots cannot be overstated. nobody underestimates the risks involved in space travel. commander chris hatfield is amongst those who sent moving notes of support in which he highlighte

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 images looked like from the ground. i don't want to show them to you. they come from an eyewitness, kenneth brown. after separating from the plane they carried it to launch altitude just as the rocket motor ignites. now, on the next image you can see it racing ahead of the mother ship which later returned to the field safely. then in the next two frames the incident itself. something terrible happens, we don't yet know what. something happened, and spaceship ii breaks apart. all of this unfolded at 40,000 feet. it only took seconds, a go-team of federal investigators is on scene tonight. what is the latest on ground, paul? >> reporter: well, anderson, no doubt one area focus is going to be the fuel mixture. officials revealing to us today it was the first time that they tested what they call a new fuel formulation in the air. they had previously tested

here's richard branson, speaking on bloomberg's in the loop. whohe ntsb are the people causes, andbout the engage in a thorough investigation. that aey indicated was lever had been pressed a few seconds sooner than it should have been. we believe it up to the ntsb to decide whether that had any effect, and whether that was the cause. >> the crash killed one pilot and injured another. branson said he is confident there is no fundamental flaw with the spacecraft, and he vows to push ahead in the private space race. anding me as cory johnson, a former astronaut and commander of the international space station. literally, i will start with you. we spoke on friday. now that we have more information, what do you think happened? >> it seems like we have a bit more information. the ntsb has made an official announcement. they found a fuel tank in a motor largely intact. that indicates those elements did not explode. and then they have cockpit video showing the copilot unlocking the feathering device. he moved that lever apparently a few seconds early,

it's unclear how far the crash will set richard branson back on his dream. the british billionaire hoped to take the first flight to the edge of space next spring. >> we are determined to honour the bravery of the pilots and the teams here by learning from the tragedy. only then can we move forward, united behind a collective desire to push the boundaries of human endeavour >>> virgin galactic spaceshiptwo was testing a new enjoying mixture. what is left of the motor may hold clues for the ntsb investigation. >> thank you ross shimabuku >>> another investigation into a fire that killed five at a house near the university of southern maine. one person was critically injured, and now it's not clear if any of those killed were students from the college. planes broke out erty saturday morning in portland after a halloween party. >> the house within 10 minutes was engulfed in flames. a young man jumped off the pomp, engulfed in -- porch, engulfed in flames. he was rolling on the grounds. >> officials say it's the deadliest fire in main in three decades. >> a new

. >> billionaire richard branson says his fans for space tourism will continue, despite the crash of a rocket. a pilot died, and another is badly injured after a section of the aircraft exploded. veg reports. -- veg reports. >> strewn across the desert, the wreckage of an ambitious dream. investigators are combing what remained of spaceshiptwo, the graft offering the first ride into space. careful to strike the right tone, the man behind the plan, richard branson says claire friday's tragedy was a set back, but as long as lessons could be learnt, space travel would go ahead. >> pushing the knowledge of stays travel comes with unavoidable risk. testing the boundaries of human capabilities and technologies, we are standing on the shoulders of giant. yesterday we fell short. we'll comprehensively assess the results of the crash, and are determined to learn from this, and move forward together. >> the spacecraft's last flight was nine months ago. this promotional video by virgin galactic shows what was supposed to happen. the passenger shutting disengages and powers upward. the only know

richard branson and virgin galactic have been enthusiastic but there was a lot of criticism. they said that this engine was never going to get customers to space. what can you tell us about that? >> i assume it's for good reason they keep the specifics of the designs close the home. i do know in the test and development process, you go through a bunch of different test to try to identify with the right combination is with the design to be the most efficient, be the most effect is. -- most effective. i'm guessing they were in the initial stages of testing with this. maybe it wasn't the final design. without knowing very detailed specifics about the design, it's hard to say whether or not it has the potential to be the final design or not. >> kerri, what can you tell me about the fuel and the types of fuel they are trying with this particular scale composite solution? how does it compare to other rockets? >> i believe the rocket fuel -- there are different types. there are solids that earn. that's what we're talking about and then there are liquids that you mix and you have a r

richard branson, as i said, will also be here looking into what went wrong. as for the program itself, the ceo of virgin galactic said yesterday that they owe it to the pilots who were flying to keep moving forward. and that is what they will do. and, again, any minute -- when they come up here, the ntsb, we'll bring it to you. >> jacob, how long have the ntsb officials been there on the scene and given that this accident just happened less than 24 hours ago, how much are they able to learn so far? >> reporter: i know. they got here -- they said they were going to get here about 7:30. we saw them show up about half an hour ago. but they could have gotten in last night. but what they're going to do is provide probably a briefing on what they expect to be doing today. they're going to go out to the site, what they're going to be looking at, what sort of things they're looking for. >> jacob rascon, thanks so much. earlier today, i talked with captain mark kelly and asked him what drives test pilots to take such incredible risks. >> they're exciting jobs, they're

one other thing i want to mention to you as well, fred, is that i asked sir richard branson about the fact that there are critics out there saying that this spaceship 2 was not ever going to make it to space no matter what. he said he couldn't comment on any part of the investigation because the ntsb is in control. but he did mention that he thinks it's irresponsible that someone would even comment on something without getting the ful result of the ntsb investigation. it did seem to bristle him just a little bit. >> then are we learning anything more about the two pilots. ripped branson saying the space community is very tight knit. the expertise is of the utmost, but what more do we know about the two pilots, one dying and the other being hospitalized? >> right, we still do not know who these two pilots are. they're being very tight knit about that information. out here in the mojave desert you have a lot of people working in space exploration. that's why they're out here. it is a tight knit community. everybody knows who these two people are, but we just don't know that yet. >> step

i'll have a brief look at some of the investment that's gone into richard branson's virgin galactic. by branson's london-based virgin group. abu dhabi has invested around $400 million for a 37% stake. nearly 800 people, including the actor leonardo dicaprio, the physicist stephen hawking have signed up for the six-passenger flights, costing $250,000 per person. the company had planned on making its first test flight beyond the atmosphere before the end of this year, but boy, that seems very unlikely now. look, let's get more. david ashford is in our bristol studio. he's the founder of bristol space planes and joins us. great to have you on the program. as i was mentioning, two accidents in something like five days. i'm wondering for companies like yours, for other space companies around the world, working in this private industry, i mean, how much of a -- i guess how much of a setback could these accidents have? >> well, it obviously is a setback. tragically, it had a fatal design flaw. several of them crashed, killing quite a few people. the design was grounded for several years befo

sir richard branson is an excellent promoter. today i saw a different richard branson. i saw someone who was taken aback, was saddened and shocked and was speaking in much more realistic terms about space flight, that it's going to take patience, that we're in it for the long run, and we will do it if we can solve the problems, not when. up to this point, it's been a lot more swagger from him. a lot of statements about -- that made it seem like it was a lot easier than it really is. and those of us in the space world who know how hard it is have wondered when the shoe would drop. and it did. >> all great words to describe his demeanor. he did say he was determined to find out what went wrong. but he underscored that they have always known that it's difficult, but that safety was always the number one priority. so as ntsb officials there are on the ground and as they are welcomed into this investigation, how will they go about trying to piece things together? because even when we heard from the chairman earlier, he said we don't know if there's a black box. we do know th

richard branson that runs the company will be on sight shortly. i should say -- the presser is starting right now. we'll go right to it. >> george white sides. with me in the room is kevin mickey. i don't see kevin right this second. >> be right out. >> okay, be right out. president of scale composite. just briefly, our day began about 2:00 this morning with, the evolution of a spaceship ii, white knight ii, powered flight four was the name of this particular test. takeoff occurred at 9:20 this morning. my team and i were present at entire evolution. release of spaceship ii occurred at approximately 10:10 a.m. at approximately 10:12 we became aware of an in-flight anomaly and implemented our preplanned response plan. my team was dispatched to the north. the chief will discuss that and the sheriff will discuss his involvement. i had confirmation of a mishap just a few moments later. approximately 25 miles north of the airport. we were given a latitude, longitude of a potential site. at times like these those of us in the aerospace valley recognize

the crash is a setback for billionaire entrepreneur richard branson. he has already signed up some 800 potential space tourists who paid up to $250,000 to ride a virgin galactic flight into space. >> one or two people must be extremely nervous at this stage. we need to know exactly what happened and make absolutely certain it can never happen again. >> reporter: branson had hoped to make first commercial passenger flights into space by next year, but federal investigators here say their final report on this accident, scott, won't be completed for about a year. >> pelley: john blackstone for us tonight. john, thank you. over the past few months americans got to know brittany maynard, a 29-year-old california woman diagnosed with terminal brain cancer. she vowed to end her life on her own terms, and over the weekend, she did, taking lethal drugs prescribed by a doctor. jan crawford was one of the least reporters to speak to her. >> i think until anyone has walked a mile in my shoes and knows what they're facing and has felt the just bone-splitting headac

we just spoke with the company's founder richard branson. >> hi. good morning. onversation with branson who told me this is the hardest project he's ever done. it took five years longer than ever. obviously this is a huge setback. we begin by talking about the death of that pilot, michael alsbury. we wanted to know more about the man and what could have caused the tragedy. >> he was an extremely brave man as all test pilots are. he had a young family. he was married. his family loved him enormously. he had a sister that loved him, parents that loved him enormously. but he was a test pilot. test pilots are trying to discover things that 400 engineers and technicians on the ground can't necessarily see on the ground. the test pilots push the craft to the limit before finally members of the traveling public are allowed on it. obviously something happened that we will learn about to make sure it can never happen again. >> this was the 35th time that the spaceship had flown freely. an investigation is ongoing. it can take up to a year. what do you know about this poin

we have evidence that will help us with the investigative process. >> reporter: richard branson said he will assist those who try to find out what happened. >> we will learn from this tragedy. >> one pilot, michael alsbury was killed. a second was injured and it hospitalized. >> the bravery of test pilots cannot be understated. >> reporter: virgin galactic has been working to sell space travel for a decade. spaceship two was expected to start taking passengers in the next two years. >> we will be certain the dream lives on. >> reporter: the promise towards pushing the boundaries. >>> the ntsbected to hold a press conference >>> mission accomplished for china after an experimental space flight. it landed in mongolia early this morning. it marks the first time in nearly four decades that a spacecraft as returned to earth after traveling around the moon. it shot this photo of the moon and earth. it is a beauty. all in prech ration for the 2017 launch of an unmanned ship >>> this is part of the innovation saturday at the history museum. students explored engineering milestones. organizer

turning to the crash of richard branson

protesters are back on the streets against the army takeover. >> billionaire richard branson says his plans for space tourism will continue despite the crash of a rocket. one pilot is dead and another badly injured after a section exploded. >> reporter: strewns across the moj desert the remains of a dream. careful to strike the right tone, the man behind the plan, richard branson, says friday's tragedy was a set back, but so long as lessons can be heard, space travel should go ahead. >> pushing the bounds of space travel comes with risk. pushing the pounds, we stand on the shoulders of clients, we fell short yesterday. we'll assess the results of the crash and are determined to learn from this and move forward together. >> the spacecraft's last night was nine months ago. this promotional video by vact rock shows what was meant to happen. guided to around 50,000 feet by an aircraft, the passenger shuttle engages and showers up. the only known difference during the flight was the use of a fuel. the cause of the crash is likely to impact when the passenger boards. >> it sets back the pro

you'll get the best out of them. >> now in his 60's, will richard branson ever slow down?etire. i have been creating things since i was 15 years old and i will always create things. but i have never seen it as work. so, i will create something, find somebody else to run it and then i will move on and create something else. >> what is it about whales? >> it is one of the, i suspect, 20 wonders of the world, to swim with these beautiful creatures, which we are going to try to encourage more people to do. >> for more, check out the latest issue of "bloomberg pursuits" magazine, available now. ♪ >> david einhorn, dan loeb, larry fink and more. these iconic investors gather once a year to rub elbows and share strategies at the robin hood investors conference. billionaire activist carl icahn is perhaps the busiest of them all, stirring up conflict at apple, ebay, dell, and herbalife, to name a few. in this rare on-camera interview, icahn also addressed warren buffett, took jabs at silicon valley, and discussed the unintended consequences of the fed's monetary policy.

refunds have been offered, but richard branson is convinced the sun hasn't quite set on his galactic goals. >>> vectors in southern -- investigators in new mexico are checking graves to say if they hold the bodies of students. someone living close by said criminal gangs had been dumping bodies there for years. >> this for neighbourhood is where some bodies had been found. inside the shacks they tell a story of horror and fear. >> reporter: they keep to themselves. a federal policeman on duty - i asked if he heard the same stories, that this was a place where cartels buried their victims. >> reporter: police will not let us go past this point. some of the graves are 2km up this road. there were vehicles going up full, but when they came down, they were pretty much empty. >> this man has lived here for 23 decades but sleeps on a dirt poor. he would rather be poor that join the gangs. >> reporter: his nephews have been missing for years. his latest poem is for the missing students. this man living close to death imagined the worst. >>> embattled groups have been protesting in northern a

virgin boss richard branson tweeted he's also flying to california. the vehicle that crashed today evolved from this, spaceship 1 which won the ansari x price for becoming the first privately owned manned spacecraft to fly into space. many have paid $250,000 deposits to fly on spacecraft 2, carried by virgin's white knight 2 care crer jet and then released. the subor bitter will carry it to 62 miles or 100 kilometers above earth. giving are travelers a brief view. on tuesday, an unmanned space craforspacecraft explode after g launched from virginia. what do you know about the investigation into the crash? >> the investigation will not get underway until sometime late tomorrow morning. we know the area has been secured, we know there is debris over a wide area. according to those officials who have been at the spacecraft, the number of pieces it was at 45,000 feet when this happened, with this explosion occurred after they tried to turn on the rocket engine. so the ntsb will be the lead investigation agency, assisted by faa, i wouldn't be surprised if

neil: sir richard branson, and the book is the virgin way and everything i know about leadership.gree with his style or politics, the fact of the matter is when average folks across the globe were asked who they would really like to work for? who would be a cool boss? sir richard came up. number 2 was rupert murdoch. okay. [ laughter ] >> anyway, all things aside, sir richard branson back with us, and his leadership style is pretty much don't be a jerk, don't be dictatorial, don't be shouting at workers or making their life hell. you are a big advocate of unlimited vacation time, you feel that by throwing a lot of rules at workers, they're not as, what, happy? productive? both? >> most of our life is spent at work, and therefore life should be fun, interesting, entertaining, it should be rewarding. and that's -- that is the virgin way, that's the way we treat our people. as i child, if i criticized somebody, my parents would send me to the mirror and ask me to stand and look at myself for five minutes because it reflected so badly. neil: interesting. >> we praise people for the be

richard branson is the name, sir richard branson and the book is "the virgin way, everything i know about leadership," and he does know about leadership. agree or disagree with his style or politics, the fact of the matter is that when average folks across the globe were asked who they would really like to work for, who would just be a cool boss, sir richard came up. number two was rupert murdoch. anyway. richard branson back with us, and a lot of his leadership style is pretty much don't be a jerk, don't be dictatorial, don't shout at your workers, but it's more than that. you believe in unlimited vacation time. you believe that throwing a lot of rules at workers they're not as happy, productive, sfwhoboth? >> most of our life is spent at work, so it should be interesting, it should be entertaining, it should be rewarding. that's the virgin way. that's wait we treat our people. as a child, you know, if i criticized somebody, my parents would send me to the mirror and ask me to stand and look at myself for five minutes because they said it reflected so badly on me. so we very much go out

virgin galactic founder richard branson and federal investigators on the scene in the mojave desert whereson's spaceship exploded yesterday. we're live now with information on the investigation that is now underway. dominic. >> hi there. richard branson speaking in the past hour after flying to mojave air overnight. he's described it as one of the most difficult journeys he's actually ever had to make. he says his people are "in shock at this devastating loss." listen. >> we are determined to honor the bravery of the pilots and the teams here by learning from this tragedy. only then can we move forward united behind the collective to push the boundaries of human endeavor. >> no indication of how much setback was. investigators from the ntsb arriving from washington, d.c. what caused the spaceship to break up at high altitude. it was two minutes after detaching from its high altitude carrier that the explosion occurred. this is the first time the ntsb is investigating a space launch with people onboard a spaceship that had been testing a new engine using a new form of fuel. that testing ta

. >> new information about what richard branson's virgin galactic did differently for this flight. did that change cause the crash? >>> halloween mudslide. heavy rains releasing a wall of mud overnight. houses left waist deep in muck. one person rescued. people told to get out. the latest on the efforts to stop the flow from reaching more homes. >>> finally free. a marine reservist who wound up in a mexican jail, released overnight after seven months behind bars. the mistake he says he made that left him on the wrong side of the border and what will happen to him now. >>> and blame jared. police say this armed robber had a bizarre motive for hitting up a series of subway restaurants. the mistake he made that led to his arrest. >>> hey, good morning, everybody. and let's take a look at virgin galactic's $500 million experimental spacecraft, the brainchild of the british billionaire richard branson. his dream is to take high income passengers including celebrities like leo dicaprio and katy perry on a journey to the edge of space. >> but those a-listers may want to reconsider when th

. >>> billionaire richard branson says had quest for space tour will continue, despite the crash of a virgin galactic rocket. a pilot is dead and another injured after part of the rocket explode the. >> reporter: spewed across the mojave desert, the wreckage of a billionaire's dream. investigators are combing what remains of spaceship two, a craft that was on the first ride into space. careful to strike the right tone. the tragedy is a setback. as long as lesson could be heard, space travel would go ahead. >> pushing the bounds of knowledge and possibility comes with unavoidable risk. testing the boundaries of human capabilities and technologies is standing on the shoulders. >> yesterday they fell short. we'll comprehensively address the crash and are determined to learn from this. >> the spacecraft's like spike was claimed months ago. this video shows what was meant to happen. guided to around 50,000 feet. the passenger shuttle engages, and powers up. the only known difference during the flight as the use of a different fuel. space experts say the cause of the crash was likely to imp

sir richard branson was here in desert and he did talk about what this could mean. take a listen to what he said. >> yesterday we fell short. we'll now comprehensively assess the results of the crash and are determined to learn from this and move forward together as a group of friends and the company. as i say that we owe it to our test pilots to find out exactly what went wrong. and once we found out what went wrong, if we can overcome it, we'll make absolutely certain that the dream lives on. >> reporter: it was clear based on what he said that he would like to see the program continue. he said he also believes the 400 engineers behind virgin galactic would like to see the program continue as well. and he says so far there have been none of the paying customers who have asked for refunds. in fact, he said there was one customer who actually said sign me up yesterday after this accident happened, deb. >> and, stephanie, the ntsb investigators arrived on scene today. i think there are a little more than a dozen of them. do we know what kind of a timeline expected in

remember, richard branson has dished on two around the world balloon attacks.s been across the ocean in a speed boat and won the blue ribbon. this is a man who is not feint hearted when it comes to risk. now, is he going to obviously pause for thought? absolutely. will this delay the final result of virgin galactic? without doubt. but i would -- it would be a very -- i cannot see him tonight turning the lights off. >> we'll continue to bring you any more developments on that tragedy there in california. >>> over 40 students missing in mexico yet to be found after a month, and as mexican officials search for clues, families are fed up and furious. that story ahead here. >>> also, locking down the virtual vault. how to keep your personal information away from hackers. >>> well, new video of a u.s. marine back on american soil after being freed from a mexican jail. that's him getting on the plane. 26-year-old andrew tahmooressi was arrested on gun charges in march after customers agents found weapons and ammunition in his truck at a tijuana checkpoint. tahmooressi

listen to this from sir richard branson earlier today. got to feel couple safe about taking people up. that is why test eyelets put their lives on the line to see if there are any things that the 400 engineers on earth have missed it --. >> do we need more trust in technology? why aren't more of these automated? >> you are going to have to test the boundaries and test in aviation the edges of the envelope. this means taking the aircraft not just having models or predictions about how it will perform, but actually seeing how it does perform. it will be casting doubt in conditions that it may unlikely face in service. you want to test the edges. it what to make sure that you know how that aircraft will perform in any scenario. >> let me ask you, am i right to be suspicious when the initial investigation terms of blame on the one person who can defend himself? i think we see that a lot. think the ntsb is being objective. they want to get to the bottom of this. they don't want to do anything like that. showing the video copilot moving that le

richard branson told me he will not speculate about what caused the crash. he says he's moving forward. they still want to send civilians to space and that he will be the first to go up and i asked him, given the tragedy on friday, is the risk worth it? >> yes. the risk is worth it. as i say, mike would have been the first to say that. i'm sure his parents and wife and sisters would not say that, but test pilots would say that because they know the risk they're taking. they know the importance of what they're doing. we know the importance of what we're doing. and if test pilots hadn't taken risks, we wouldn't have the 747. two of the comets blew up in early days of airline travel and now airline travel is as safe as anything. we've got to go through difficult testing stage of creating a space line in order to make it safe for travelers who want to travel on that space line in the years ahead. and we will persevere and we will succeed. >> cnn aviation analyst miles o'brien this morning said that virgin galactic have underestimated to the public what it takes

sir richard branson says he is confident there is no fundamental flaw with the spacecraft there it hewing to push ahead in the private space race. we spoke with leroy chow and deborah hershman. >> we have more information. they have made official announcements of they found the fuel tank and the motor is intact. that means that those elements did not explode. they have video showing the copilot unlocking the device. he moved that lever apparently a few seconds early. it was only to unlock the feathering device and not to engage it. a separate command would have to have been sent or malfunction to cause the feathering device to activate, which apparently it did. they are telling us that is what happened and that caused the error dynamic loads to break the vehicle apart. this is not unlike a few airline accidents of happened over the years where a thrust reverser accidentally deployed in flight. when you land on a runway, sometimes you will feel the thrust as the airplane engages and the exhaust goes the other way to slow the plane down. that has caused airplanes to break up in flight.

this is richard branson's vision of the future. >> virgin galactic, read by the founder richard branson has been on the forefront of commercial space travel, we spoke to branson about it a couple of years ago right here in the bay area. but today a sudden set back and an ongoing investigation into just what happened. the virgin galactic spaceship made this dramatic flight over the bay area back in 2011, announcing it's plans to take tourists into space. but an equally dramatic set back after today's test flight ended in a deadly crash in the mojave desert. >> space is hard and today was a tough day. >> new mexico based virgin galactic, partnering with a company called scale composite, for a flight of its spaceship 2. >> we're flying in a rocket motor today, it had been thoroughly tested on the ground, it had been through a qualification series. >> now the national transportation safety board along with the faa will investigate what went wrong, while the companies involved say they'll cooperate, mourn, and then get back to work. >> future rest in many ways on hard days like this. but we

virgin galactic's richard branson vowed today to press on with his goal of taking tourists in to space. john black stone has the latest on what caused the flight test disaster in the mojave. steve hartman goes back on the road to see a college team achieve the dream of a lifetime. we'll have those stories tonight on the western edition of the cbs evening news at 5:30 right after kpix 5 news. ,, claims that one of the east bay's biggest employers is trying t >>> veronica de la cruz in the news room. new at 6:00, claims that one of the east bay's biggest employers is trying to buy the election. the candidate chevron is throwing its money behind. plus why potential south bay b.a.r.t. stations may not be built after all. all straight ahead at 6:00. >> cbs news coming up next. thank you! thank you! dedicated bankers born to go the extra mile. you've been such a big help. it's what i like to do. so you can choose a bank where helping people comes first. ig pelley: tonight, a new warning about our planet. u.n. scientists say the negative impact of climate change may be irreversible unless we

richard branson joins us from the virgin islands. good morning, richard.aying we're all saddened by the personal loss and tragedy and we know the investigation goes forward, but what in the words does this change and what does it not change? >> well it was an incredibly sad day particularly for the family and a real blow for the 400 wonderful engineers and team that worked for virgin galactic and for the 800 people waiting to go to space. but we've now picked ourselves up. the team are pushing on building the next spaceship and waiting for the final report from the ntsb. we'll see if there's any changes at all we need to make to the spacecraft or was it something else that actually caused it. and last night they gave us a pretty good idea of what happened, and we need to wait for their definitive idea. >> i heard you say, sir richard, you would give a refund. has anybody asked for a refund and what are they saying to you about going into space? >> what is absolutely remarkable is that on the day of the accident, two people actually signed up and paid in fu

richard branson is there. you had to make it happen. >> you know, what i want to talk about is -- i will get back to that but walt's comment about cell phones, i'm not a cell phone kind of guy. one day i was flying a plane. the only requirement was to have a commercial glider rating. if you start to think about it, it seems like it is a pretty low bar flying wise. i doubt that in the foothills -- i am out there in the foothills and i am practicing this baby airplane glider. it weighs as much as i do. the plane takes us up over the mountains which are 8000 feet and then get released. immediately i get things that are 1500 feet per minute. just making a turn. i'm coming down like a brick. the stick is swinging back and forth trying to keep the wings level. i decide today is not the day to be flying this thing. i start aiming back towards the field. i may be pointing that way but i am still flying this way. there is no place to go. at some point you have to give up and say today i'm not going back, i'm going some

as richard branson said if it were easy, everybody would be doing it.e at the beginning are always optimistic, and problems arise in any development. so i don't think this is something to be terribly surprised by or worried about. we'll get there one day. >> leroy i described you as a space entrepreneur, and there's not necessarily big money in it all the time, but it might make the world. >> i think around ten years ago you saw the companies coming up, and it was a little bit like the microcomputer storm when a lot of different companies sprung up. frankly speaking a lot of charlottetons, and that has been weeded out, and you have a few survivors and a new comers starting up as well. so i think this is here to stay. it's going to be a big deal. you heard richard branson in earlier interviews saying he felt that virgin galactic was going to be the biggest part of the virgin holings. >> genth mepranum thank you so much for taking your time out, they both flew on a challenger shuttle mission together. >>> the new commercial space tourism. >> we believe a

. >> reporter: virgin galactic is owned by richard branson who has already sold more than 700 tickets to prospective space tourists, willing to spend $250,000 for four minutes floating in sub orbit. among the celebrities who have already booked a ride, lady gaga, tom hanks and katy perry. >> i wanted to go to space, so, you know. but nasa wasn't building spaceships for ordinary people to go to space. so i came up with the name virgin galactic airways. >> reporter: tonight, richard branson is on his way to mojave. and virgin galactic's plans for space tourism are very much in question. nbc news has an agreement to document virgin galactic's inaugural flight with paying passengers. this is of course the second major blow to the commercial space industry this week. just three days ago an orbital sciences rocket exploded on liftoff on a re-supply mission to the space station. thankfully no one was killed, but it was a $200 million loss for that company, lester. >> tom, in these two accidents a reminder there's a change in balance. we're seeing more commercial space flight operations along