Tue, Oct 26, 2004
SpaceShipOne Pilot Mike Melvill Will Be Recognized At Fall
Awards Banquet
Mike Melvill, the first
civilian astronaut and pilot of SpaceShipOne, will be honored by
the National Aeronautic Association at its Fall Awards Banquet
November 8.
Melvill will be recognized for a world record he established
when he became the first pilot to earn civilian astronaut wings on
his flight to space on June 21st of this year. He was also part of
the team that earned the $10 million Ansari X-Prize when he made a
second flight to space September 29. Melvill's appearance will be
one of the highlights of NAA's Fall Awards program, which
recognizes aviation record setters from this year, in addition to
honoring the winners of some of aviation's most prestigious
awards.
Melvill will be honored for the
record he established for "Altitude, Aeroplane Launched from a
Ship," with a height of 281,310 feet reached. He has claimed
several world records in conjunction with his September flight for
the X-Prize, which was awarded to Scaled Composites LLC for
completing two flights into space within 14 days without government
involvement. Those records are still pending final
certification.
Melvill is a vice president for Scaled Composites, an aerospace
development company headquartered in Mojave (CA). He has 19 years
of experience as a test pilot, including first flights on several
experimental designs. He is the only person other than Dick Rutan
and Jeana Yeager to pilot Voyager, the first aircraft to fly around
the world without stopping and a Collier Trophy winner.
Also, appearing at Fall Awards will be former NASA astronaut
Robert "Hoot" Gibson, who established a new record for speed on a
100-kilometer closed course for planes in his aircraft's class in
April, averaging a speed of 238 miles per hour. Gibson was a
shuttle commander and participated in five missions into space.
Seats for this event are still available. Call (800) 644-9777 to
purchase tickets.
More News
An Amazing Experience Awaits The Chosen Few... Oshkosh, to us, seems the perfect place to get started on watching aviation recover the past couple of years... and so ANN is putting>[...]
“NBAA has a tremendous responsibility to the business aviation industry, and we are constantly collaborating with them. Our flight departments, professionals and aircraft own>[...]
Dead Reckoning Dead reckoning, as applied to flying, is the navigation of an airplane solely by means of computations based on airspeed, course, heading, wind direction, and speed,>[...]
Aero Linx: Vertical Aviation Safety Team (VAST) We are a public–private initiative to enhance worldwide flight operations safety in all segments of the vertical flight indust>[...]
We're Everywhere... Thanks To You! Even with the vast resources and incredibly far-reaching scope of the Aero-News Network, every now and then a story that should be reported on sl>[...]