The unlikeliest astronaut Mike Melvill’s journey into space B Y D AV E H I R S C H M A N | P H OT O I L LU S T R AT I O N B Y M I K E F I Z E R ALONE IN THE SLEEK, composite shell of an experimental spacecraft he helped build, suspended beneath the broad wings of the White Knight carrier airplane, test pilot Mike Melvill is glad to finally get busy. The two aircraft have been ascending together for nearly an hour, and at 47,000 feet over the California desert, the White Knight’s two General Electric J85 turbojets have lifted Melvill and SpaceShipOne as high as they can. 64 | AOPA PILOT June 2013 VIDEO EXTRA View a video interview with Mike Melvill.