Virgin Galactic Crash Investigation Could Take a Year It could be a year before federal investigators have any answers about what caused the Virgin Galactic spacecraft to crash, but that shouldn't stop the company from pursuing its space tourism ventures. National Transportation Safety Board acting chairman Christopher A. Hart said tonight that investigators will be on site gathing information for four to seven days, but putting it all together could take as much as 12 months. Because it was a test flight, there was a great deal of deata recorded by Virgin Galactic and Scaled Composites, the company developing SpaceShipTwo, which crashed Friday over the Mojave Desert. SpaceShipTwo broke apart after being released from a carrier aircraft at high altitude. "The wreckage is located in a large area, oriented northeast to southwest, about five miles from end to end," Hart said. And when the wreckage is dispersed like that, that indicates the likelihood of in-flight break-up. Alsbury was a respected test pilot and devoted husband and father of two young children, his employer and neighbor said Saturday. He was involved in the flight testing of nine different manned aircraft and co-piloted SpaceShipTwo when it broke the sound barrier during its first powered flight last year. He was also sitting in the co-pilot's seat when the craft first dropped in 2010 from its carrier aircraft several miles above the Earth for an unpowered glide test The other pilot, identified late today as Peter Siebold, director of flight operations for Scaled Composites, was able to parachute to safety and was taken to a hospital for treatment. He was described late today as alert and talking with his family and doctors. At least a dozen investigators from the NTSB will examine the crash site, collect data, and interview witnesses, Hart said. Virgin Galactic founder Sir Richard Branson vowed today that the crash would not be the end of the company's effort, and said that by finding out what caused the disaster they would "honor the bravery" of the pilots. "We are determined to honor the bravery of the pilots and the teams here by learning from this tragedy," Branson said. Only then can we move forward, united behind a collective desire to push the boundaries of human endeavor. Though company "fell short" when the rocket broke apart, Branson said his team would learn from the crash and "push on." The NTSB began its investigation into the cause of the crash today. The Associated Press contributed to this report.