Brian Binnie

In 1969 I was 16, and for me anything was possible. '2001: A Space Odyssey' was in theaters. Man's future in space seemed limitless, and here on TV to punctuate it all were men walking on the moon.

I remember going to London with my father in 1968 to see '2001: A Space Odyssey.' I just soaked in that movie. To me, that was real; it was going to happen.

The notion of getting the general public into low-Earth orbit I don't think is far-fetched at all.

If you are not happy when you're weightless, then something's wrong.

I never declared I wanted to be an astronaut, as I considered that was presumptuous.

If somebody had told me when I was in graduate school, 'Brian, in 35 years you'll get a chance to fly the first commercial spacecraft with no computers,' I'd have said, 'I don't think so. People are not going to be that stupid.'

I always liked airplanes, and I decided I was going to go to school to study them.

Weightlessness is a wonderful experience. It feels like magic. It really does.

It is extremely rewarding for me to be recognised by the University of Aberdeen. This is where I grew up and nurtured my dreams.

Without mincing words or really embellishing anything... I consider Mike Alsbury the renaissance man. He could do it all. He was an engineer. He was a pilot. He worked well with others. He had a great sense of humor. I never heard him raise his voice or lose his cool.

The delay in SpaceShipTwo has not been the development of either of the vehicles. But the rocket motor has just been problematic from the get-go.

I'm very pleased to be part of the XCOR team and look forward to working with friends and colleagues on many of the exciting development efforts at XCOR, including the family of Lynx vehicles.