William Brian Binnie (April 26, 1953 – September 15, 2022) was a United States Navy officer and one of the test pilots for SpaceShipOne, the experimental spaceplane developed by Scaled Composites and flown from 2003 to 2004.

Early life

thumb|left|Wife Bub Binnie upon completion of the final flight in October 2004

Binnie was born in West Lafayette, Indiana, on April 26, 1953, When Binnie was a teenager the family moved to Boston.

Binnie earned a bachelor's degree in aerospace engineering from Brown University. He earned a master's degree from Brown in fluid mechanics and thermodynamics. Binnie was rejected by the United States Air Force, and enrolled at Princeton University, where he earned a master's degree in mechanical and aerospace engineering

SpaceShipOne and spaceflight

thumb|(L–R) [[Marion Blakey, Mike Melvill, Richard Branson, Burt Rutan, Binnie, and Paul Allen reflect on a mission accomplished in 2004.]]

On December 17, 2003, the 100th anniversary of the Wright brothers' first powered flight, Binnie piloted the first powered test flight of SpaceShipOne, flight 11P, which reached a top speed of Mach 1.2 and a height of . On October 4, 2004, he piloted SpaceShipOne's second Ansari X Prize flight, flight 17P, winning the X Prize and becoming the 436th person to go into space. His flight, which peaked at , set a winged aircraft altitude record for suborbital flights, breaking the old record set by the North American X-15 in 1963. It also earned him the second Astronaut Badge to be given by the Federal Aviation Administration for a flight aboard a privately operated commercial spacecraft.

Later career

In 2014 Binnie joined XCOR Aerospace as senior engineer and test pilot, after working as a test pilot and program business manager for Scaled Composites for many years.

Personal life

Binnie and his wife, Bub, had three children.

Binnie died on September 15, 2022, at age 69.

References

  • Biography at Scaled Composites website
  • Biography at SpaceFacts.de