spacetoday.net: Binnie to pilot SpaceShipOne Monday

Posted: Mon, Oct 4, 2004, 9:37 AM ET (1337 GMT)
Brian Binnnie (Scaled Composites)

Test pilot Brian Binnie has been named to pilot SpaceShipOne on the second of its two Ansari X Prize qualifying flights Monday morning. Binnie, a 51-year-old former naval aviator, has over 20 years of flight test experience. Binnie also served as a test pilot for Rotary Rocket Company in the late 1990s, a company that was developing the Roton RLV. Binnie flew the first powered test flight of SpaceShipOne in December 2003 but has not flown the vehicle since then. The last three SpaceShipOne flights, including the June and September flights that went into space, were flown by another Scaled pilot, Mike Melvill, who said after last week’s flight that he wanted another pilot to fly this week’s mission. If Monday's flight is a success Scaled Composites will win the $10-million Ansari X Prize. A ceremony to officially award the prize is planned for early November in St. Louis.