Stucky returned from the Iraq War in 2007 and moved to Nevada , still in the employ of the Air Force , engaged on a classified project . He reached out to Scaled for a job opportunity and was hired as a test pilot in 2009 . The first instance of SpaceShipTwo , the VSS '' Enterprise '' , made its first flight in 2010 ; Stucky piloted several test flights of the craft until its catastrophic breakup in 2014 . Despite severe criticism following the disaster , Virgin Galactic continued development of its program ; Stucky was hired directly by Virgin Galactic as a test pilot in 2015 , as part of restructuring . During this period he also served as president of the Society of Experimental Test Pilots for a one-year stint , the normal term of the organization 's leadership . In 2016 Stucky piloted the first free flight of the second SpaceShipTwo craft VSS '' Unity '' , following release from its companion mother ship , the White Knight Two-class VMS '' Eve ''
catastrophic breakup
VSS Enterprise crash
Mark P. Stucky