Virgin Galactic Selects Pilot for Spaceflights

Bethany Whitfield

Tuesday, November 01, 2011 at 06:55 PM ET

Verified

Key Takeaways:

Virgin Galactic has hired Keith Colmer, a highly experienced former U.S. Air Force test pilot, to fly its SpaceShipTwo carrying fare-paying passengers.
Colmer was chosen from over 500 applicants, including 10 astronauts, due to his extensive flight-testing background and the critical pilot skills required for SpaceShipTwo.
He will now begin flight training aboard SpaceShipTwo and its carrier aircraft, WhiteKnightTwo, for suborbital flights where passengers will experience weightlessness.
The start date for passenger service is still undetermined, with the company's chief pilot indicating it will be at least two more years, significantly past the initial 2008 target.

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After combing through more than 500 applicants, Virgin Galactic has hired a pilot to take fare-paying passengers into space aboard the company’s SpaceShipTwo.

That man is Keith Colmer, a former U.S. Air Force test pilot with 12 years of flight-testing experience. Colmer has logged more than 5,000 hours in 90-plus aircraft types, experience that helped him beat out a competitive applicant pool, which included 10 current and former astronauts.