Virgin Galactic spacecraft performs the first powered flight since fatal 2014 crash

Richard Branson’s fledgling space tourism company Virgin Galactic performed a powered flight of its spacecraft today, the first since a fatal crash in 2014.Virgin’s spacecraft is unlike others because it is launched mid-flight by a larger plane called White Knight Two. This particular version of the spacecraft, dubbed SpaceShipTwo VSS Unity, has performed seven glide tests since it was built in 2016. Like those previous tests it was carried high above the Mojave Desert by White Knig