Mike Melvill
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Michael Winston Melvill (born November 30, 1940, in Johannesburg, South Africa)<ref name="Britannica">Template:Cite web</ref> is a world-record-breaking pilot<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> and one of the test pilots for SpaceShipOne, the experimental spaceplane developed by Scaled Composites. Melvill piloted SpaceShipOne on its first flight past the edge of space, flight 15P on June 21, 2004,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> thus becoming the first commercial astronaut, and the 435th person to go into space.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> He was also the pilot on SpaceShipOne's flight 16P, the first competitive flight in the Ansari X Prize competition.<ref name=AstronautBio>Template:Cite web</ref>
Life and career
In 1978, Melvill met aerospace designer and Scaled Composites founder Burt Rutan when he flew to California to show Rutan the VariViggen he had built at his home. Rutan then hired him on the spot. In 1982, he was named Rutan's lead test pilot.<ref name=Astronautix>Template:Cite web</ref>
In 1997, Melvill and Dick Rutan, Burt's brother, flew two Long-Eze aircraft that they built side-by-side around the world. This "around the world in 80 nights" flight was called The Spirit of EAA Friendship World Tour, and some legs of it lasted for over 14 hours.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
His famous 2004 flights in SpaceshipOne earned him and the entire project team the Ansari X Prize of $10 million and helped spur the beginning of the global private space race.<ref name=AstronautBio/>
Later in his career, he became Vice President/General Manager at Scaled Composites.<ref name=Astronautix/>
Mike Melvill holds FAA Commercial certificate, ASEL, AMEL, instrument airplane, rotorcraft-helicopter, glider and now astronaut.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Awards and achievements
As of January, 2020, Melvill is the sole or joint holder of ten FAI aviation world records in various categories.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
He was awarded the Iven C. Kincheloe Award in 1999 for high altitude, developmental flight-testing of the model 281 Proteus aircraft.<ref name=Astronautix/>
Through SpaceShipOne flight 15P in 2004, he is known as the first privately funded human spaceflight mission pilot to reach space.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
References
External links
- Pages with broken file links
- 1940 births
- Living people
- People from Johannesburg
- South African people of British descent
- Commercial astronauts
- South African astronauts
- Scaled Composites
- Scaled Composites Tier One
- Glider pilots
- American aviation pioneers
- Alumni of Hilton College (South Africa)
- Alumni of Highbury Preparatory School
- American test pilots
- People who have flown in suborbital spaceflight