What inspired you to take to the skies?
When I was 6 my family moved to a remote village in the north of Scotland. Almost daily we’d see jet aircraft flying fast and low. It looked incredibly exciting. Then the Apollo moon missions were shown by the BBC and that captured my imagination. I found out those astronauts were ex-military test pilots and so I came up with this scheme to join the Royal Air Force, become a test pilot and then maybe an astronaut. That sounded like a fantastic career path. I was aware that the UK had no manned space programme but I just hoped that something would work out.
How did that pan out for you?
I joined the air force and ended up flying Harriers at low altitude – a very exciting and demanding form of flying. As soon as I had sufficient experience I became a test pilot.
So how did you end up at Virgin Galactic, aiming to take people to the edge of space?
I came to the point where if I wanted to stay in the RAF, I’d have to do more and more managerial work. I wasn’t ready to give up flying, so reluctantly I decided to leave. I was fortunate to get a job with Virgin Atlantic and three years later I was a captaining 747s.
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In 2003, Virgin Atlantic announced it was going to sponsor an aircraft called GlobalFlyer, built by Scaled Composites in Mojave. I came out in 2004 to look at GlobalFlyer but we were aware that the company also had a spaceship, SpaceShipOne. We got invited to fly the simulator and talk to engineers and company founder Burt Rutan about it.
I thought it was a remarkable vehicle with a lot of potential. Those ideas went back to Richard Branson, and Virgin Galactic took off after that. They decided they wanted a test pilot and I was asked to join.
“To give up now would be an insult to all the sacrifices that have been made”
SpaceShipTwo is carried into the sky by another plane, White Knight Two, before being launched into space. How does that work?
The climb up to launch altitude takes about 50 minutes and gets very close to 50,000 feet, so it’s already quite a spectacular view. The release is a dynamic affair. For the best part of an hour you’ve been underneath this four-engine aircraft but, as you release, it suddenly goes completely quiet for a couple of seconds. The two vehicles spring apart quite dramatically – it’s like going over the top of a sharp roller coaster. About 3 seconds after release the rocket motor is lit.
You’ve only flown once with the rocket firing. How did it feel?
It’s an incredible sensation, almost like a magic carpet ride. It’s not an abrupt kick in the pants, but it does come up to full thrust very rapidly, over about 0.7 seconds. From there you’re accelerating at about 3 g. It’s a remarkable push in the back.
Once we’re through the sound barrier we start pitching the vehicle up into the vertical. That takes 20 seconds or so, accelerating all the time at about 3 g. On that test we reached Mach 1.4.
I had prepared myself for what I thought the sensations were going to be like and so I wasn’t surprised, except by how quiet the motor was: from the ground they’re incredibly noisy, but in the vehicle all the noise is behind you.
Video: Flying a rocket-powered spacecraft
How does the craft handle?
The controls are two-handed, like the reins of a horse, so it almost feels like you are holding on to a wild animal, but that’s not accurate because it’s so smooth. Holding on to this thing and controlling it is a wonderful ride. When the motor shut down, one of the hardest things was not to come out with a string of expletives that I might regret later. Virgin Galactic is great at selling the weightless experience and the views from space, and those will be remarkable, but I think the actual rocket ride up there is going to be pretty sensational.
How was the view up there?
On that flight we got up to 71,000 feet. Several people asked me afterwards what the view was like. I’m afraid I can’t tell you because we were so busy running checks that I didn’t have time to look out the window.
Last October, SpaceShipTwo broke up and crashed, killing test pilot Michael Alsbury and injuring his co-pilot…
It was a tragic day. We lost a friend, a colleague and a lovely person. We feel great sympathy for his friends and family. But I am sure that Mike would not want this project to end.
I think we’re more determined than ever. To give up right now would be an insult, I think, to all the work that’s been done, and the sacrifices that people have made.
How will you feel when you climb into the new SpaceShipTwo?
I will only go on that flight if I’m completely confident that it’s going to be safe and we’re going to be able to do what we set out to do. Everybody feels like that: nobody’s putting us under pressure to get this done quickly. In my time in the RAF I lost a lot of friends and it’s something that you have to deal with. You learn from other people’s mistakes and that’s how progress has been made throughout the history of aviation.
What do you say to people who dismiss Virgin Galactic as joyrides for the rich?
I don’t see it like that. Yes, we have lots of wealthy customers, but we also have a lot of people who have made considerable sacrifices to buy a ticket. I think a lot of our customers are similar to a lot of people who work here; they’re really enthusiastic about what we’re doing and they want to be invested in this endeavour. A lot of them want to see private space flights succeed and this is one way of helping.
How long will it be until the new SpaceShipTwo is in the air?
We’re reluctant to say we’re going to fly on a given date, because people start to say, why haven’t you done it? But we should be ready to start the test programme this year. And once this one is complete, or pretty close, the plan is to build another one.
Looks like your dream of being an astronaut is closer than ever
I’ve got no doubt it’s going to happen. We’ve got some great vehicles, a great motor, fantastic people and a very enthusiastic passenger corps who I think are in for an absolute treat. I thoroughly believe that when you come back the first thing you’ll want to do is go and do it again. I view it as the start of something important in the development of commercial space travel.
If NASA were to offer you a trip to Mars, how would you react?
I’d love to go to Mars. It’s a very intriguing planet with some sensational geographical features – Olympus Mons and perhaps the largest canyon in the solar system. I think there are some challenges with healthily surviving a trip so I’d want to know more about that.
What if it was a one-way mission?
No. To be honest, I love life too much. I always want to come back.
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David Mackay was a test pilot for the Royal Air Force, captained Boeing 747s for Virgin Atlantic and is now chief pilot for Virgin Galactic based in Mojave, California
This article appeared in print under the headline “Rocket man”
