Will Help Celebrate At EAA's Wright Brothers Memorial Banquet

Mike Melvill, who made history this year by becoming the first civilian to fly a spacecraft into sub-orbital space, will be the featured guest at this year's Wright Brothers Memorial banquet at EAA on Friday, Dec. 17. The dinner, which commemorates the anniversary of man's first successful powered flight, will be held at the EAA AirVenture Museum in Oshkosh.

Melvill made two successful space flights in "SpaceShipOne," the privately built project that in October won the $10 million Ansari X Prize. In June, Melvill piloted the spacecraft to a height of more than 100 kilometers (62 miles) above the earth's surface, scientifically regarded as the edge of space. After that test flight, he repeated the feat in late September in the first of two required flights to win the $10 million prize, which went to the first private group to successfully build and fly such a spacecraft on a suborbital mission.

"We are extremely pleased and honored that Mike Melvill will join us to celebrate the anniversary of the Wright brothers' first flight," said Adam Smith, EAA AirVenture Museum director. "Mike's achievements may prove to be as historic as those of Orville and Wilbur Wright, as SpaceShipOne's success opens an entirely new frontier of flight. As a longtime EAA member, Mike is looking forward to returning to Oshkosh and sharing his experiences through words, video and photos."

FMI: www.airventuremuseum.org