Page 11 - Aerotech News and Review, April 19, 2019

Virgin Galactic crew presented with astronaut wings
The three-person crew from Vir- gin Galactic’s second spaceflight have received Commercial Astro- naut Wings from the Federal Avia- tion Administration.
Chief Pilot, Dave Mackay, Lead Pilot trainer, Mike ‘Sooch’ Masucci and Chief Astronaut Instructor, Beth Moses, were presented their wings at the 35th National Space Symposium, where it was also announced that Virgin Galactic and The Spaceship Company were to be presented the Space Achievement Award.
The crew became the 5th, 6th and 7th people in history to receive this honor, and Moses the first woman to earn Commercial Astronaut Wings.
The wings were presented by the FAA’S Associate Administrator for the Office of Commercial Space Transportation, Wayne R. Monte- ith who said, “Commercial human spaceflight is now a reality. These wings are just a small recognition for the truly remarkable achievement by these crew members to reach out- er space. It shows we are well on the way into this new and exciting chapter of space travel.”
The Feb. 22 test flight completed Virgin Galactic’s second spaceflight in 10 weeks and saw the crew rocket into space at more than three times the speed of sound. As the spaceship coasted to apogee, Moses, who be- came the first woman to fly to space
on a commercial spaceship, floated free to complete a number of cabin validation checks.
“It was an honor to receive my Commercial Astronaut Wings to- day. Since the flight we have been assessing the findings from my cabin evaluations; I’m excited by what the results are showing and looking for- ward to incorporating what we learnt into our cabin outfitting and astro- naut training program,” she said.
Sir Richard Branson sent a mes- sage of congratulations to the crew. “Seeing Dave, Mike and Beth re- ceive their Commercial Astronaut Wings is a proud moment for all of us at Virgin Galactic and The Space- ship Company,” Branson said. “Our pilots executed a perfect flight and it was wonderful to have Beth float free to conduct our first live cabin evaluation. The flight was another historic moment as we continue to- wards our mission of becoming the world’s first commercial spaceline.” The Space Achievement Award will be presented to Branson at the closing dinner of the symposium, and has been awarded in recogni- tion of the success of both crewed spaceflights, which were the first from U.S soil since the final space
shuttle mission in 2011.
“Virgin Galactic and TSC’s com-
mitment to public access to space is an example to all of us of how
Courtesy photograph
Chief Pilot, Dave Mackay, Lead Pilot trainer, Mike ‘Sooch’ Masucci and Chief Astronaut Instructor, Beth Moses, were presented their astronaut wings by FAA’S Associate Administrator for the Office of Commercial Space Transportation, Wayne R. Monteith.
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