Scientists on Reddit

Mike Melvill 1940–2026

Test pilot, flew SpaceShipOne to space

u/Mike_Melvill ↗AMA only

How we know it's theirs

The 2016 r/science AMA, posted from this account

We retrieved 18 comments from u/Mike_Melvill, all from 2016, most often in r/science.

Best moment

A redditor wrote in r/science

On “XPrize AMA: Hi I’m Mike Melvill, the world’s first commercial (non-governmental) astronaut. Self-taught engineer, I took up piloting mid-life and went on to fly the first private spacecraft into space at 63. AMA!”

Hey Mike, I'm 22 with an aerospace engineering degree and a private pilot's license. I would love to do what you do, but I have no idea how to get there. Any advice? Thanks in advance

u/Mike_Melvill replied

Sad to say you just have to be lucky! I happened to buy a set of plans to build a homebuilt plane. The designer happened to be Burt Rutan! I had never heard of Burt. When It was flying My…

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Sad to say you just have to be lucky! I happened to buy a set of plans to build a homebuilt plane. The designer happened to be Burt Rutan! I had never heard of Burt. When It was flying My wife and I flew it to Mojave to show it to Burt, he flew it and hired both of us during lunch that day! We both worked for Burt for 29 years!

More moments

In a thread on r/science

XPrize AMA: Hi I’m Mike Melvill, the world’s first commercial (non-governmental) astronaut. Self-taught engineer, I took up piloting mid-life and went on to fly the first private spacecraft into space at 63. AMA!

u/Mike_Melvill replied

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We got permission from the base commander of Edwards Air Force Base to take off in the mother ship, Whiteknight with me hanging under its belly in SpaceShipOne, climb to around 50,000 feet, and then drop the SS1 off the two hooks. I started the rocket motor, and pulled the nose up until I was near vertical, the accelerated to Mach 3 and at 170,000 feet I shut down the rocket motor, and coasted up to 328,000 feet, 62 miles.

Excerpt

A redditor wrote in r/science

What was the scariest moment you've had when flying?

u/Mike_Melvill replied

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Good question Swag_train! I have had several scary moments, including a few engine out forced landings, but the one that sticks in my mind was a flight test involving spins in a small two place aircraft designed by my Boss. I ended up in a flat spin starting at 14,000 feet, and I finally managed to recover at less than 1,000 feet after making 17 disorienting spinning turns. It was caught on video, so I was able to count the turns!