Acting Chairman Christopher A. Hart briefs the media. (Credit: NTSB)

The National Transportation Safety Board officially began their investigation of the crash of Virgin Galactics SpaceShipTwo. The craft was destroyed on October 31 during a test flight that claimed the life of one pilot.

That pilot has been identified as Michael Alsbury, 39, who was a test pilot for Scaled Composites, the contractor that is building and testing the spaceship for Virgin.

The NTSB began their investigation this morning. Senior investigator Lorenda Ward will be in charge of the process. She is leading a team of 13-15 investigators with a variety of specialties to determine the cause of the crash.

Acting NTSB chairman Christopher A. Hart gave a briefing this morning to the media.

This has many similarities and some differences to the NTSBs usual investigations, Hart said in response to a question from a reporter. Thisll be the first time we have been in the lead of a space launch that involved persons on board.

Hart didnt have much information yet about the specifics of the crash as the investigation was beginning, but indicated that there should be lots of evidence because test flights are typically very well documented.

Updates to NTSBs investigation will be gathered at its website here.

Virgin Galactics founder, Sir Richard Branson, was also on the scene today and briefly addressed reporters and others in Mojave.

Richard Branson at a press conference at the Mojave spaceport. (Credit: Virgin Galactic)

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NTSB Begins Its Investigation Of Virgin Galactic Crash