Scaled Vice President Headed For Space

ANN has learned that Burt Rutan has selected long-time friend Mike Melvill, an accomplished test pilot who's been with Burt since the days of the Vari-EZE, as SpaceShipOne's test pilot for its first sub-orbital flight.

If all goes well, Mike will leave the ground at 0630 PDT. His SpaceShipOne will free itself from its mother ship, White Knight, at approximately 50,000 feet. Then it will boost for 80 seconds in a near-vertical 3.2G climb and rocket into history as the first manned commercial flight into space.

Melvill is no stranger to record-breaking accomplishment, having set three national and world altitude records in Rutan's Proteus back in October, 2000. He also set national and world speed records over a 2,000 km closed course in March, 1994, flying Rutan's Catbird. Mike is the only pilot besides Dick Rutan and Jeana Yeager to have flown Scaled's Voyager aircraft, which set a 'round-the-world record for continuous, non-refueled flight. He has logged 6,460 hours of flight time in 111 fixed-wing and seven rotor-wing aircraft.

The 62-year old Durban, South Africa native, along with his wife Sally, moved to the US from England almost three decades ago. Early this morning, Sally, their son and daughter-in-law and four grandchildren will watch Grandpa blast into space.

FMI: www.scaled.com/projects/tierone/melvill.htm