Mojave Spaceport Blast Kills 2

Four others hurt at company behind first manned rocket
By Greg Atwan,  Newser Staff
Posted Jul 26, 2007 10:24 PM CDT
Mojave Spaceport Blast Kills 2
Aerospace designer Burt Rutan talks during a news conference near the site of an explosion that killed two people and critically injured four others,Thursday, July 26, 2007, at Mojave Air and Space Port in Mojave, Calif. The blast at a facility belonging to Scaled Composites LLC also left some toxic...   (Associated Press)

An explosion killed at least two people at a remote desert plant attempting to develop billionaire Richard Branson's space tourism program. The blast at Mojave Air and Space Port was in part of the facility where SpaceShipTwo is being built for Virgin Galactic—to be used for $200,000 trips into Space.

Paramedics reported four people were critically injured the blast and one suffered minor injuries. They were airlifted to a hospital about 45 minutes away. Video news helicopters flying over scene showed a mass of burned vehicles and equipment. (More space tourism stories.)

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