Michael Alsbury

Michael Tyner Alsbury
Commercial Astronaut
Nationality American
Status Deceased
Born 1975
Died October 31, 2014(2014-10-31) (aged 38–39)
Mojave Desert near Cantil, California
Other occupation
 Test Pilot
Missions None

Michael Tyner Alsbury (1975 – 31 October 2014) was an American test pilot for Scaled Composites. He was killed on 31 October 2014 during test flight PF04 of the Virgin Galactic SpaceShipTwo VSS Enterprise.[1][2]

Personal life

Alsbury had been a flying enthusiast since childhood.[3] He graduated from California Polytechnic State University with a Bachelor of Science degree in Aeronautical Engineering.[2][3] Alsbury was married to Michelle Saling for 12 years and had two children, aged 7 and 10 at the time of his death.[2][4]

Career

Alsbury joined Scaled Composites in 2001 and began working as a project engineer and pilot.[2]

In April 2013, he served as copilot to Mark Stucky on the first powered flight for VSS Enterprise and SpaceShipTwo.[2]

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.[2]

At the time of his death, he had 1800 flight hours, 1600 of them as a test pilot and engineer with Scaled Composites.[2] In 2013, he was the co-recipient of the Ray E. Tenhoff Award from the Society of Experimental Test Pilots.[2]

SpaceShipTwo VSS Enterprise crash

Main article: VSS Enterprise crash

On 31 October 2014 Alsbury was test flying the Virgin Galactic SpaceShipTwo, VSS Enterprise with Peter Siebold. Pilot error resulted in the craft breaking up in-flight and a total loss of VSS Enterprise, which crashed in the California Mojave Desert.[5] Alsbury was unable to exit the spacecraft, and his remains were found still strapped to his seat in the fuselage. The Co-Pilot, Peter Seibold survived.[2][4] It was the ninth time that Alsbury had flown aboard the aircraft.[6]

On 4 November 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.[7]

References

  1. ↑ "Press Release - 3:00pm, November 1, 2014" (PDF). Scaled Composites. 1 November 2014. Retrieved 5 November 2014.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Petersen, Melody; Vives, Ruben; Hennigan, W.J. (1 November 2014). "Virgin Galactic craft probably broke up in midair, NTSB chief says". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 5 November 2014.
  3. 1 2 Williamson, Marcus (6 November 2014). "Michael Alsbury: Experienced and respected pilot who died during a test flight for Richard Branson's 'SpaceShipTwo' vessel". The Independent. Retrieved 8 November 2014.
  4. 1 2 Spargo, Chris; Parry, Ryan; Robertson, James; Corcoran, Kieran (1 November 2014). "'I have lost the love of my life'". Daily Mail. Retrieved 5 November 2014.
  5. ↑ Prigg, Mark; Spargo, Chris; Warren, Lydia; Corcoran, Kieran (31 October 2014). "Moment Virgin Galactic spaceship exploded at 45,000ft". Daily Mail. Retrieved 5 November 2014.
  6. ↑ Solomon, Daina Beth; Klotz, Irene (2 November 2014). "Branson determined to find cause of Virgin spaceship crash, pilots identified". Reuters. Science Daily. Retrieved 5 November 2014.
  7. ↑ "BBC Two - Human Universe, What is our Future?". BBC. 2014. Retrieved 5 November 2014.
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