Michael Alsbury
| Michael Tyner Alsbury | |
|---|---|
| Commercial Astronaut | |
| Nationality | American |
| Status | Killed during training mission |
| Born | 1975 |
| Died | October 31, 2014 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
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On 31 October 2014, along with Peter Siebold, Alsbury was test flying the Virgin Galactic SpaceShipTwo, VSS Enterprise. The craft broke up in-flight shortly after its release from its mothership, resulting in the loss of VSS Enterprise, which crashed in the California Mojave Desert.[5] While Siebold was injured, he was able to parachute to safety. Alsbury, however, was unable to exit the spacecraft, and his remains were found still strapped to his seat in the fuselage.[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
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- Pages with reference errors
- 1975 births
- 2014 deaths
- Accidental deaths in California
- American test pilots
- Aviators killed in aviation accidents or incidents in the United States
- California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo alumni
- Commercial astronauts
- Place of birth missing
- Space program fatalities
- Scaled Composites
- Virgin Galactic
