Brian Binnie
{{Short description|US Navy officer and test pilot (1953–2022)}}
{{For|the curler|Brian Binnie (curler)}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=September 2022}}
{{Infobox astronaut
| name = Brian Binnie
| image = Brian Binnie by Don Ramey Logan.jpg
| caption = Binnie in 2004
| type = Commercial astronaut
150px
| nationality = American
| birth_date = {{Birth date|1953|04|26}}
| death_date = {{Death date and age |2022|09|15|1953|04|26}}
| birth_place = West Lafayette, Indiana, U.S.
| death_place =
| resting_place = Arlington National Cemetery
| alma_mater = Brown University
Princeton University
| occupation = Test pilot
| rank = Commander, United States Navy
| selection = SpaceShipOne 2003
| space_time = ~5 minutes
| missions = SpaceShipOne flight 17P
| insignia =
}}
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
Binnie was born in West Lafayette, Indiana, on April 26, 1953, where his Scottish father William P. Binnie was a professor of physics at Purdue University. The family returned to Scotland when Binnie was five, and lived in Aberdeen (his father taught at Aberdeen University) and later in Stirling.{{cite news |url=http://icstirlingshire.icnetwork.co.uk/observer/news/tm_method=full%26objectid=17409899%26siteid=92391-name_page.html |title=Stirling has a space ace |work=Stirling Observer |date=July 19, 2006 |access-date=November 4, 2006}} When Binnie was a teenager the family moved to Boston.{{cite news |url=http://www.princeton.edu/~paw/archive_new/PAW04-05/09-0223/features4.html |title=Rocket man {{!}} Brian Binnie*78's pioneering flight could help open doors to civilian space travel |work=Princeton Alumni Weekly |first1=Kathy |last1=Kiely |date=February 23, 2005 |access-date=November 4, 2006}}
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 He served for 21 years in the United States Navy as a naval aviator, reaching the rank of commander. He flew the A-7 Corsair II, A-6 Intruder, F/A-18 Hornet, and AV-8B Harrier II. He graduated from the U.S. Naval Test Pilot School in 1988. Binnie also copiloted the Atmospheric Test Vehicle of the Rotary Rocket. In 2006, he received an honorary degree from the University of Aberdeen.{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/1/hi/scotland/north_east/5140682.stm |title=Degree for 'first Scot in space' |publisher=BBC News |date=July 3, 2006 |access-date=November 4, 2006}}
SpaceShipOne and spaceflight
File:SS1Group01.jpg, 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 {{convert|20.7|km|mi|disp=flip}}. 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 {{convert|367442|ft|mi km|1}}, set a winged aircraft altitude record for suborbital flights,"[http://www.fai.org/fai-record-file/?recordId=9881 FAI Record ID #9881 – Altitude above the earth's surface with or without maneuvres of the aerospacecraft, Class P-1 (Suborbital missions)] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151018225245/http://www.fai.org/fai-record-file/?recordId=9881 |date=October 18, 2015 }}" [http://www.fai.org/fai-record-file/?recordId=10434 Mass] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150924043352/http://www.fai.org/fai-record-file/?recordId=10434 |date=September 24, 2015 }} [http://www.fai.org/fai-record-file/?recordId=9882 Time] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150924045447/http://www.fai.org/fai-record-file/?recordId=9882 |date=September 24, 2015 }} Fédération Aéronautique Internationale (FAI). Retrieved: September 21, 2014. breaking the old record set by the North American X-15 in 1963.{{cite magazine |url=https://www.wired.com/science/space/news/2004/10/65212 |title=SpaceShipOne Wins the X Prize |magazine=Wired | first=Dan |last=Brekke |date=October 4, 2004 |access-date=November 4, 2006}} It also earned him the second Astronaut Badge to be given by the FAA for a flight aboard a privately operated commercial spacecraft.{{cite web |title=FAA Commercial Human Spaceflight Recognition |url=https://www.faa.gov/space/human_spaceflight/recognition/ |publisher=Federal Aviation Administration |access-date=September 21, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220712214308/https://www.faa.gov/space/human_spaceflight/recognition/ |archive-date=July 12, 2022 |location=web.archive.org |date=June 9, 2022}}
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.{{cite news |url=http://www.spacenews.com/article/features/40089spaceship-pilot-joins-rival-firm |archive-url=https://archive.today/20140403161517/http://www.spacenews.com/article/features/40089spaceship-pilot-joins-rival-firm |url-status=dead |archive-date=April 3, 2014 |title=Spaceship Pilot Joins Rival Firm |work=Space News |first=Irene |last=Klotz |date=April 3, 2014 |access-date=April 4, 2014}}
Personal life
Binnie and his wife, Bub, had three children.{{cite web|author=Philippa Kennedy |url=https://www.thenationalnews.com/lifestyle/travel/to-infinity-and-beyond-the-tourist-generation-1.487700 |title=To infinity and beyond: the tourist generation |publisher=Thenationalnews.com |date=October 26, 2008 |access-date=September 20, 2022}}{{Cite news|url=https://www.pressandjournal.co.uk/fp/past-times/4813231/brian-binnie-astronaut-dies/|title=Brian Binnie, who grew up in Aberdeen and followed Neil Armstrong into space, dies age 69|first=Neil|last=Drysdale |newspaper=The Press and Journal|date=September 19, 2022|access-date=September 20, 2022}}
Binnie died on September 15, 2022, at age 69.{{cite web|url=http://www.collectspace.com/news/news-091922a-brian-binnie-xprize-spaceshipone-obituary.html|title= Brian Binnie, SpaceShipOne test pilot who won XPRIZE, dies at 69|date=September 19, 2022|access-date=September 19, 2022 |publisher=collectSPACE}}
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
{{Commons category|Brian Binnie}}
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20110621154405/http://scaled.com/projects/tierone/pilots/brian_binnie Biography at Scaled Composites website]
- [http://www.spacefacts.de/bios/astronauts/english/binnie_brian.htm Biography at SpaceFacts.de]
{{The Spaceship Company}}
{{Scaled Composites}}
{{Portal bar|Biography}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Binnie, Brian}}
Category:American aviation record holders
Category:American people of Scottish descent
Category:Aviators from Indiana
Category:Brown University School of Engineering alumni
Category:Commercial astronauts
Category:Flight altitude record holders
Category:Military personnel from Indiana
Category:People from West Lafayette, Indiana
Category:People who have flown in suborbital spaceflight
Category:Princeton University alumni
Category:Scaled Composites Tier One program