EAA Aviation Center – June 8, 2005 - He’s flown fast and high before. But on June 21, 2004, Mike Melvill did something no one had ever done before — fly to space and back in the first commercially developed space plane.
On June 15, 2005, you’ll be able to do something you’ve never done before, too. Chat live with the world’s first civilian astronaut!
Mike will be our guest on this month’s Young Eagles webchat, Wednesday, June 15 between 7 and 8 p.m. central time.
What is a webchat?
The Young Eagle Webchat is an opportunity for interesting people in aviation to answer your questions directly. The text-based chat is available on the third Wednesday of the month between 7 and 8 p.m. central time. Simply log in to the chat with your list of questions!
Meet Mike Melvill
On June 21, 2004, Michael W. Melvill piloted SpaceShipOne on its first flight past the edge of space and became the 433rd person to reach that outer limit. Two hours after the flight, he became the first civilian to receive commercial astronaut wings from the FAA, the Federal Aviation Administration.
Mike has been an experimental test pilot for more than 20 years, but flying SpaceShipOne to an altitude of more than 100 kilometers last year was, as he puts it, “was a really good ride.”
Mike also helped develop the docking system for SpaceShipOne, which will be at EAA AirVenture in Oshkosh from July 25-31, along with its carrier aircraft, White Knight. It will be the only public appearance of SpaceShipOne and WhiteKnight, before SpaceShipOne is put on display at the National Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C.
SpaceShipOne won the $10 million Ansari X Prize last fall by being the first single spacecraft to fly to a minimum height of 100 kilometers - that's 62 miles - twice in a two-week period. On Sept. 29, Melvill flew SpaceShipOne to that height and Brian Binnie followed up with the second flight on Oct. 5.
More than a dozen teams sought the prize, which was created to stimulate space tourism.
Mike’s flights weren’t without some tense moments, however. During the June flight, he had to cope with wind shear and a control-system glitch. Then in September, as SpaceShipOne ascended it went into a roll at more than 10 revolutions per minute before Melvill was able to regain control.
Originally from Durban, South Africa, Melvill moved to the United States from England in the 1970s and became a U.S. citizen.
Fast Facts About Mike Melvill
- He is vice president and general manager of Scaled Composites in Mojave, Calif.
- He has worked for Burt Rutan for nearly 30 years.
- He has accumulated 7,050 flight hours in 128 fixed-wing types of airplanes and 12 rotary wing types (helicopters).
- He is a Fellow of the Society of Experimental Test Pilots.
- He holds nine world and national speed and altitude records in Rutan’s Catbird, Proteus and SpaceShipOne aircraft.
- He and Dick Rutan flew their Long-EZs around the world in 1997.
- He has been a member of EAA for 32 years.
- He is also the only person other than Dick Rutan or Jeana Yeager to have piloted the Voyager aircraft. The Voyager made record books by becoming the first plane to fly nonstop without refueling around the world in 1987. Its nine-day flight almost doubled the previous distance record set by a Boeing B-52H in 1962.
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The world’s first civilian Astronaut Mike Melvill.
SpaceShipOne, the craft that took Mike into space on June 21, 2004 and again on September 29, 2004.
Mike celebrates reaching space following his successful flight last June. Mike will be available to answer your questions on Wednesday, June 15 between 7 and 8 p.m. central time.
Mike proudly shows off his official Commercial Astronaut wings and commemorative certificate.
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