Mike Alsbury, Test Pilot Killed in Virgin Galactic SpaceShipTwo Crash, Was Living His Aviation Dream

The Scotts Valley native's middle school teacher says he "excelled in everything."

Friends say Michael Alsbury, who died last Friday in the crash of the SpaceShipTwo rocket plane, was living his aviation dream as a test pilot for Virgin Galactic.

The 39-year-old grew up in Scotts Valley, in nestled in the redwoods of the Santa Cruz Mountains. His former middle school history teacher remembers him well.

“Michael was an outstanding student,” Bob Hagopian said. “He excelled in everything: sports, history, writing and literature. Everybody liked him and wanted to spend time with him. He had a serious side and he was fun loving as well.”

Hagopian said, even during his days attending Scotts Valley Middle School, Alsbury was passionate about the history of space travel. “He had a real interest in the rapid development of aviation,” Hagopian said.

Alsbury attended Soquel High School. He was valedictorian when he graduated in 1993.

For 15 years he worked as a project engineer and test pilot for Scaled Composites, a firm working with Virgin Galactic to develop private spacecraft.

Alsbury’s former teacher says he was shocked to learn Mike was the pilot killed in the space plane crash. “I felt this sadness,” Hagopian said.

Hagopian says he always felt Alsbury had “the right stuff” and believes his former student died while pursuing his dream of space exploration.

Alsbury left behind his wife and two children, aged 7 and 10. A memorial fund campaign already has brought in more than $100,000 in donations.

Peter Siebold, 43, who piloted the mission, parachuted to the ground and was hospitalized with serious injuries.

Virgin Galactic – owned by billion Richard Branson's Virgin Group and Aabar Investments PJS of Abu Dhabi – plans to fly passengers to altitudes more than 62 miles above Earth. The company sells seats on each prospective journey for $250,000.

Branson had hoped to begin flights next year but said Saturday that the project won't resume until the cause of the accident is determined and the problems fixed.

NBC News and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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