Mike Melvill
Mike Melvill | |
|---|---|
 Melvill in 2004 | |
| Born | Michael Winston Melvill November 30, 1940 Johannesburg, South Africa |
| Died | March 19, 2026 (aged 85) |
| Alma mater | Hilton College |
| Occupation | Test pilot |
| Space career | |
Commercial astronaut | |
Time in space | 7 mins (roughly estimated) |
| Selection | SpaceShipOne 2003 |
| Missions | SpaceShipOne flight 15P, SpaceShipOne flight 16P |
Michael Winston Melvill (November 30, 1940 – March 20, 2026) was a South African-born American world-record-breaking pilot.[1] He was one of the test pilots for SpaceShipOne, the experimental spaceplane created by Scaled Composites. Melvill flew SpaceShipOne on its first flight past the edge of space, flight 15P on June 21, 2004.[2] This made him the first commercial astronaut, and the 435th person to go into space.[3] He was also the pilot on SpaceShipOne's flight 16P, the first racing flight in the Ansari X Prize competition.[4]
Melvill died on March 19, 2026, at the age of 85.[5]
References
- ↑ "Chronological listing of all known flights around the World". Earthrounders.com. Archived from the original on July 12, 2012. Retrieved July 3, 2012.
- ↑ "Scaled Composites: combined white knight spaceshipone flight tests". Scaled.com. Archived from the original on August 22, 2010. Retrieved August 2, 2010.
- ↑ "M.Melvill". Worldspaceflight.com. Retrieved August 2, 2010.
- ↑ "Astronaut Biography: Michael Melvill". Spacefacts.de. Retrieved August 2, 2010.
- ↑ "Noted test pilot of SpaceShipOne, Michael Melvill, passed on March 19". Leonard David. March 20, 2026. Retrieved March 21, 2026.