American test pilot (1975–2014)
Michael Tyner Alsbury (March 19, 1975 – October 31, 2014) was an American test pilot for Scaled Composites . He died on October 31, 2014, during test flight PF04 of the Virgin Galactic SpaceShipTwo VSS Enterprise .[2] [3]
Personal life
Michael was born to Rich and Linda Alsbury in Santa Clara, California , but grew up in Scotts Valley, California , graduating from Soquel High School as a valedictorian in 1993. He was an Eagle Scout, and also played soccer at a young age. Alsbury was a flying enthusiast since childhood, achieving his pilot's license at the age of 23.[4] He graduated from California Polytechnic State University in San Luis Obispo with a Bachelor of Science degree in Aeronautical Engineering .[4] [3] Immediately out of college, Alsbury began work at Scaled Composites . He was married to Michelle Saling, whom he had met at Cal Poly, for 12 years and had two children, aged 7 and 10 at the time of his death, living in Tehachapi .[3] Some of his other pastimes included fly fishing and supporting the San Francisco Giants .
Career
Alsbury joined Scaled Composites in 2001 and began working as a project engineer and pilot.[3] In April 2013, he served as copilot to Mark Stucky on the first powered flight for VSS Enterprise and SpaceShipTwo.[3]
At the time of his death, he had 1800 flight hours, 1600 of them as a test pilot and engineer with Scaled Composites.[3]
In 2013, he received the Ray E. Tenhoff Award for the most outstanding technical paper at the Society of Experimental Test Pilots symposium along with Mark Stucky and Clint Nichols .[3]
On October 31, 2014, Alsbury was test flying the Virgin Galactic SpaceShipTwo , VSS Enterprise with Peter Siebold . The craft broke up in-flight, resulting in a total loss of VSS Enterprise , which crashed in the California Mojave Desert . Alsbury was unable to exit the spacecraft, and his remains were found still strapped to his seat in the fuselage. The pilot, Peter Siebold, survived.[3] It was the ninth time that Alsbury had flown aboard the aircraft.[5]
Legacy
On November 4, 2014, episode 5 of BBC One 's Human Universe , presented by Brian Cox , was dedicated to Alsbury, as it had a sequence on Virgin Galactic test pilot David Mackay .[6]
His name was added to the Space Mirror Memorial in 2020.[7]
He was posthumously awarded the FAA Commercial Astronaut Wings in 2021.[8] [9]
See also
References
^ California Birth Index, 1905-1995
^ "Press Release - 3:00pm, November 1, 2014" (PDF) . Scaled Composites . November 1, 2014. Archived from the original (PDF) on November 2, 2014. Retrieved November 5, 2014 .
^ a b c d e f g h Petersen, Melody; Vives, Ruben; Hennigan, W. J. (November 1, 2014). "Virgin Galactic craft probably broke up in midair, NTSB chief says" . Los Angeles Times . Retrieved November 5, 2014 .
^ a b Williamson, Marcus (November 6, 2014). "Michael Alsbury: Experienced and respected pilot who died during a test flight for Richard Branson's 'SpaceShipTwo' vessel" . The Independent . Archived from the original on May 12, 2022. Retrieved November 8, 2014 .
^ Solomon, Daina Beth; Klotz, Irene (November 2, 2014). "Branson determined to find cause of Virgin spaceship crash, pilots identified" . Science Daily . Reuters . Archived from the original on December 6, 2014. Retrieved November 5, 2014 .
^ "BBC Two - Human Universe, What is our Future?" . BBC . 2014. Retrieved November 5, 2014 .
^ "Fallen SpaceShipTwo pilot's name added to Space Mirror Memorial" . collectSPACE . January 25, 2020. Retrieved February 12, 2020 .
^ "FAA Commercial Human Spaceflight Recognition" . www.faa.gov . Archived from the original on December 10, 2021. Retrieved January 3, 2022 .
^ Foust, Jeff (December 10, 2021). "FAA to end commercial astronaut wings program" . SpaceNews . Retrieved January 3, 2022 .
Related companies Notable people Background Programs / ships Related topics
Aircraft (main designs) Aircraft (as subcontractor) Technology demonstrators Rocketcraft (as subcontractor) Spaceflight program
Model numbers Notable people