Virgin Galactic Holdings Inc faced an in-flight hardware challenge during its recent crewed space tourism flight, according to a statement released by the Richard Branson-founded company on Monday (Feb 5).
The issue involved a pin crucial for aligning Virgin Galactic's spaceplane, VSS Unity, and its carrier aircraft, VMS Eve, while attached on the ground.
However, during the January 26 flight, this alignment pin became detached. It's worth noting that this pin doesn't bear the weight of the spaceplane during its ascent to altitude, reported Bloomberg.