Nearly 1,000 mourners gather to recognize the pioneering efforts of
Michael Alsbury, the pilot of SpaceShipTwo who lost his life in a recent crash.
by John
Tyburski
Copyright © Daily
Digest News, KPR Media, LLC. All rights reserved.
Risking it
all is something that upwards of 1,000 mourners honored at a memorial Thursday
for Virgin Galactic’s SpaceShipTwo pilot Michael Alsbury who died in the
craft’s unexpected crash during a test flight on October 31. Family, friends,
and coworkers gathered to honor the memory of the pilot while WhiteKnightTwo,
the SpaceShipTwo’s mothership, flew over the Mojave baseball stadium where the
ceremony took place.
In
attendance were Alsbury’s widow and two young children as well as Brian Binnie
and Mike Melvill, America’s first private astronauts and the first pilots of
SpaceShipOne, the first of Virgin Galactic’s craft to travel out of Earth orbit
ten years ago. President of Scaled Composites Kevin Mickey delivered a eulogy
in which he named Alsbury a hero of American space exploration. Mickey drew
parallels of Alsbury’s sacrifice to those of the crew of NASA’s Columbia space
shuttle which broke apart during atmosphere re-entry in 2003.
George
Whitesides, CEO of Virgin Galactic also spoke at the ceremony, assuring
mourners that Alsbury’s memory will outlive the rest of the development team.
Founder Sir Richard Branson called Alsbury a leader, mentor, and friend and
lamented that the world lost “a true space pioneer.”
Branson
announced that the next SpaceShipTwo craft is already being built and will be
called “Hope” in honor of Alsbury’s contribution. He said that Alsbury imparted
hope to the Virgin Galactic family by pursuing and achieving the dream he and
they shared.
No comments:
Post a Comment