Virgin Galactic
Hires Two New Pilots into its Pilot Corps
Virgin Galactic
today announced the appointment of two new pilots into its Pilot Corps,
bringing the total number of pilots to eight.
Jameel Janjua and
Patrick Moran will be based at Spaceport America, New Mexico, and join the
Virgin Galactic team as preparations for commercial service continue.
Both will embark on
an extensive training program before flying SpaceShipTwo. In addition
to the Spaceship, the pilots will also train to fly the carrier aircraft,
VMS Eve. VMS Eve provides a way for the pilots to fly simulated parts
of the SpaceShipTwo flight trajectory, gaining valuable hands-on training. Other
assignments for the pilots will include flying other company support
aircraft, working mission control, flight planning, and support various
detailed engineering and project roles across the company.
While Jameel and
Patrick will initially operate in a test pilot capacity, they, along with
the rest of the Pilot Corps, will ultimately become the world’s first
commercial Spaceship Pilots, flying Future Astronauts on their
life-changing journey into space and back.
Our Virgin Galactic
Pilots serve an essential role in the flight experience of our Future
Astronauts. The pilots will join the Future Astronauts at various
points in their training program, helping emphasize and provide details
about various key elements of their upcoming spaceflight. All
pilots are ambassadors of the Virgin Galactic brand and will work to
provide Future Astronauts with an out of this world adventure.
Both Jameel and
Patrick bring a wealth of aircraft flight and flight test experience; they
were picked from a small group of specialized pilots who meet the strict
criteria needed to be considered for the role of a Virgin Galactic
Pilot.
Each of them has
flown in both military and commercial roles, involving training, operations
and test, as well as flying passengers and managing crew. Jameel has
completed over 4,000 flying hours in more than 45 different vehicles
throughout his career, which spans over twenty years in the Royal Canadian
Air Force. He completed exchange tours for the Royal Air Force and the U.S
Air Force and is on the Board of Directors for the Society of Experimental
Test Pilots {SETP}. Patrick served as a Pilot in the Marine Corps for
twenty years, including roles as a test pilot, test pilot school instructor,
and the lead government test pilot for Navy and Marine Corps versions of
the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter. He then entered business aviation as a
broker, consultant, and charter pilot, and joins Virgin Galactic with over
3,000 flight hours in 34 different aircraft.
Dave Mackay, Virgin
Galactic’s Chief Pilot said, “I am delighted to welcome Jameel Janjua and
Pat Moran to the Virgin Galactic Pilot Corps. Jameel and Pat both come with
a tremendous range and depth of experience of both military and civilian aviation,
and test flying in particular. Their backgrounds, in addition to their
accomplished interpersonal skills, will make them hugely valuable -
particularly as we prepare for, and soon enter, commercial passenger
operations. Virgin Galactic is fortunate to have secured the services of
two such high calibre pilots, and we eagerly anticipate their contributions
to the team as a whole.”
Jameel Janjua said,
"Helping to democratize space travel is a unique honour, and I am
thrilled and humbled to be joining the Virgin Galactic Pilot Corps. With
society on the cusp of opening space to all humankind, I cannot think of a
more privileged role than to be a small part of the amazing team guiding
people to their dreams and beyond. I am excited to join our Future Astronauts
on their personal and insightful journeys and I’m looking forward to
witnessing, first-hand, the variety of reactions these life-changing
experiences will evoke.
Patrick Moran said,
“I am excited to join this fantastic team of talented pioneers leading the
charge for commercial space travel and now in the final stages of its
flight test program. As a flight instructor I loved to take people flying
in the F/A-18 for the first time, to see their huge smiles as they climbed
out of the cockpit. I can’t wait to share the experience of going to
space with our Future Astronauts and to see their reactions as they step
out of the spaceship and describe their views of Earth from space!”
About Virgin
Galactic
Virgin Galactic is a
vertically-integrated aerospace and space travel company, pioneering human
spaceflight for private individuals and researchers, as well as a
manufacturer of advanced air and space vehicles. Using its proprietary and
reusable technologies and supported by a distinctive, Virgin-branded
customer experience, it is developing a spaceflight system designed to
offer customers a unique, multi-day, transformative experience. This
culminates in a spaceflight that includes views of Earth from space and
several minutes of weightlessness that will launch from Spaceport America,
New Mexico. Virgin Galactic and The Spaceship Company believe that one of
the most exciting and significant opportunities of our time lies in the
commercial exploration of space and the development of technology that will
change the way we travel across the globe in the future. Together we are
opening access to space to change the world for good.
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