Michael Alsbury | |
|---|---|
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| Born | (1975-03-19)March 19, 1975[1] Santa Clara, California, U.S. |
| Died | October 31, 2014(2014-10-31) (aged 39) Mojave Desert nearCantil, California, U.S. |
| Alma mater | California Polytechnic State University(BS) |
| Occupation | Test pilot |
| Space career | |
Virgin Galacticcommercial astronaut (honorary) | |
| Missions | None |
Michael Tyner Alsbury (March 19, 1975 – October 31, 2014) was an American test pilot forScaled Composites. He died on October 31, 2014, duringtest flight PF04 of theVirgin GalacticSpaceShipTwoVSSEnterprise.[2][3]
Michael was born to Rich and Linda Alsbury inSanta Clara, California, but grew up inScotts Valley, California, graduating fromSoquel High School as a valedictorian in 1993. He was an Eagle Scout, and also played soccer at a young age. Alsbury was a flying enthusiast since childhood, achieving his pilot's license at the age of 23.[4] He graduated fromCalifornia Polytechnic State University inSan Luis Obispo with aBachelor of Science degree inAeronautical Engineering.[4][3] Immediately out of college, Alsbury began work atScaled Composites. He was married to Michelle Saling, whom he had met at Cal Poly, for 12 years and had two children, aged 7 and 10 at the time of his death, living inTehachapi.[3] Some of his other pastimes included fly fishing and supporting theSan Francisco Giants.
Alsbury joined Scaled Composites in 2001 and began working as a project engineer and pilot.[3] In April 2013, he served as copilot toMark Stucky on the first powered flight for VSSEnterprise and SpaceShipTwo.[3]
At the time of his death, he had 1800 flight hours, 1600 of them as a test pilot and engineer with Scaled Composites.[3]
In 2013, he received theRay E. Tenhoff Award for the most outstanding technical paper at theSociety of Experimental Test Pilots symposium along with Mark Stucky andClint Nichols.[3]
On October 31, 2014, Alsbury was test flying theVirgin GalacticSpaceShipTwo,VSSEnterprise withPeter Siebold. The craft broke up in-flight, resulting in a total loss of VSSEnterprise, whichcrashed in the CaliforniaMojave Desert. Alsbury was unable to exit the spacecraft, and his remains were found still strapped to his seat in the fuselage. The pilot, Peter Siebold, survived.[3] It was the ninth time that Alsbury had flown aboard the aircraft.[5]
On November 4, 2014, episode 5 ofBBC One'sHuman Universe, presented byBrian Cox, was dedicated to Alsbury, as it had a sequence on Virgin Galactic test pilotDavid Mackay.[6]
His name was added to theSpace Mirror Memorial in 2020.[7]
He wasposthumously awarded theFAACommercial Astronaut Wings in 2021.[8][9]
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