The private
spaceflight firm Scaled Composites has formed a support fund to aid the victims
and families of those affected by an explosion last week at the firm's California
desert-based facility.
Three
Scaled Composites workers were killed, and three others injured, in a July 26
explosion at the
firm's facility at the Mojave Air and Space Port in Mojave, California during
an oxidizer system test for the company's suborbital SpaceShipTwo
passenger spacecraft.
"The outpouring
of support form around the world has been incredible, and we can't thank you
enough for all the support you have given us," Scaled Composites officials
said in a statement posted to the firm's Web site on Saturday. "We're
trying to do what we can to support the families during this tragic time."
The firm
has set up the Scaled Family Support Fund to help the families of its employees
in the wake of the accident, a Monday statement added.
Scaled
Composites workers Todd Ivens, 33, Eric Blackwell, 38, and Glen May, 45, were
killed in the explosion, which occurred as they and other coworkers were
conducting a routine cold-flow test of the oxidizer system for SpaceShipTwo. A
funeral for May is set for Aug. 3 in Collierville, Tennessee, Scaled Composites
officials said.
The
explosion also injured Scaled Composites employees Keith Fritsinger, Gene Gisin
and Jason Kramb. As of Saturday, Fritsinger and Gisin were listed in critical condition,
with Kramb in serious condition, the firm said.
Led by
veteran aerospace designer Burt Rutan, Scaled Composites built the Ansari X
Prize-winning SpaceShipOne piloted
suborbital vehicle as well as a series of other record-breaking aircraft.
The firm is
currently developing the air-launched SpaceShipTwo and its White Knight Two
carrier aircraft as part of an effort to supply passenger suborbital
spaceliners to the British firm
Virgin Galactic. Like the reusable SpaceShipOne, which flew twice in two
weeks to win the $10 million Ansari X Prize in 2004, SpaceShipTwo is slated to
rely on a hybrid rocket engine that uses nitrous oxide as an oxidizer and a
rubber-based fuel.
Meanwhile,
investigations into last week's explosion are underway by Scaled Composites officials,
as well as the Mojave spaceport and California's Occupational Safety and Health
Administration (OSHA), according to the firm and other press reports.
"This
is an incredibly hard time for all of us," Scaled officials said in a
statement. "We continue to ask you to keep those people and families who
were hurt or have died in your thoughts and prayers."
Click here for more information on the Scaled
Family Support Fund or contact the firm directly here:
Scaled Family Support Fund
c/o Scaled Composites,
1624 Flight Line,
Mojave, CA. 93501
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