Michael Alsbury, who was killed in the test flight of Virgin Galactic's prototype space tourism rocket, was a respected test pilot and devoted husband and father of two young children, his employer and neighbor said.
Alsbury, 39, was the co-pilot during Friday's ill-fated test flight of SpaceShipTwo high over the Mojave Desert. Scaled Composites, the company developing the spaceship for Virgin Galactic, issued a statement yesterday calling Alsbury "a respected and devoted colleague."
Peter Siebold, who piloted SpaceShipTwo and survived, was described as alert and talking with his family and doctors, the statement said.
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At Scaled Composites, Alsbury participated in the flight testing of nine different manned aircraft and co-piloted SpaceShipTwo when it broke the sound barrier during its first powered flight last year.
He was also sitting in the co-pilot's seat when the craft first dropped in 2010 from its carrier aircraft several miles above the Earth for an unpowered glide test.
Alsbury flew primarily as the craft's co-pilot, logging at least seven trips from 2010 to early 2014, according to test-flight logs.
Alsbury's next-door neighbor in Tehachapi, California, Patricia Kinn, had known him for years and described him as a devoted father of a young son and daughter. The last time she saw him he was playing with the kids in his yard.
"He was a very down-to-earth family man," Kinn said. "He was very humble. He never bragged, never boasted."
Kinn, who works in flight testing for another company, said the aerospace community is a close one connected with businesses at the Mojave Air and Space Port and nearby Edwards Air Force Base.
"It was a horrible day yesterday for everyone," she said "What's hard is the family is suffering the loss of their dad. And they were very tight."
Alsbury earned a degree in aeronautical engineering from California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo. He was the recipient of Northrop Grumman's President's Award for Innovation-for-Affordability Excellence this year.