I cannot wait to get up there and experience space travel for the first time. It will be a dream come true. David Mackay dreamexperiencespace Change image and share on social
I was brought up in the north of Scotland, and where I lived was so lowly populated, it was used as a low-flying area by the Air Force, so lots of exciting aircraft used to fly over my village. David Mackay airaircraftarea Change image and share on social
I've always hankered after going into space and walking on the moon and Mars. I did want to be an astronaut, and had there been a manned space flight programme in the U.K., I would have been knocking on the door. David Mackay astronautdoorflight share on social
We go up just into space - space is most commonly accepted to be 100 kilometres above the earth's surface, and we go up just beyond that to about 350,000 ft. David Mackay 000acceptcommonly Change image and share on social
For Virgin Galactic's customers, it is transportation to the most amazing experience of their lives. I very much look forward to sending some Scots into space. David Mackay amazecustomerexperience Change image and share on social
I can still remember them wheeling the black and white TV sets into our classroom at school so we could watch the men landing on the Moon, and that obviously had a huge impact. I later found out those people flying Apollo were ex-military test pilots, so I decided to join the Air Force and become a test pilot. David Mackay airapolloblack share on social
I thought any chance I had of space travel would be military or government-controlled. David Mackay chancecontrolgovernment Change image and share on social
Not long after I got my test pilot qualification, I realised there was no manned space flight programme in the U.K., and there was unlikely to be one. David Mackay flightlongman Change image and share on social
It's very sad that there's going to be a hiatus in manned space flight from the U.S. The Shuttle was a fantastic, hugely complex vehicle. It was inevitable it would come to an end, but this is the opportunity for the commercial world to get involved. As the Shuttle era ends, another window of opportunity opens. David Mackay commercialcomplexend share on social
By my mid-30s, I just thought, 'This is not going to happen. I am never going to become an astronaut in the U.K.' David Mackay 30sastronauthappen Change image and share on social