Brian Binnie

For the curler, see Brian Binnie (curler).

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.

Brian Binnie
Binnie in 2004
Born	(1953-04-26)April 26, 1953 West Lafayette, Indiana, U.S.
Died	September 15, 2022(2022-09-15) (aged 69)
Resting place	Arlington National Cemetery
Nationality	American
Alma mater	Brown University Princeton University
Occupation	Test pilot
Space career
Commercial astronaut
Rank	Commander, United States Navy
Time in space	~5 minutes
Selection	SpaceShipOne 2003
Missions	SpaceShipOne flight 17P

Early life

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

Binnie was born in West Lafayette, Indiana, on April 26, 1953,^[1] 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.^[2] When Binnie was a teenager the family moved to Boston.^[3]

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^[3] He served for 21 years in the United States Navy as a naval aviator, reaching the rank of commander.^[4] 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.^[5]

SpaceShipOne and spaceflight

(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 12.9 miles (20.7 km). 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 367,442 feet (69.6 mi; 112.0 km), set a winged aircraft altitude record for suborbital flights,^[6] breaking the old record set by the North American X-15 in 1963.^[7] It also earned him the second Astronaut Badge to be given by the FAA for a flight aboard a privately operated commercial spacecraft.^[8]

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.^[9]

Personal life

Binnie and his wife, Bub, had three children.^[4][10]

Binnie died on September 15, 2022, at age 69.^[1]