Binnie Brian Astronaut Test Pilot Program Manager (1 results)

Hardcover, large format. Condition: excellent condition, new book. With a forword by Burt Rutan, founder of Scaled Composites and designer of SpaceShipOne. - - In 2004 the history of manned spaceflight took another step forward when the first privately funded, privately built and privately piloted craft reached space. not once, but twice - within five days to claim the Ansari XPRIZE. - Here in the authentic words of the second of those pilots, whose world record-breaking flight to 70 miles clinched the prize, is the history of SpaceShipOne's development, testing, and eventual triumph. Never-before-seen photos, diagrams and insider explanations make the successes and failures - the magic and the menace - come to life. - More than that, it's the story of a personal arc that took a Scottish kid out of the highlands, into naval aviation, to test pilot. and finally on a nail-biting, all-or-nothing gamble into that black sky. - Only five manned craft hang in the National Air and Space Museum's "Milestones of Flight" Hall. SpaceShipOne is among them. This book tells why. 398 p. photos.