Local Aided in Virgin Galactic Space Flight

A Schulenburg native was standing on the ramp at Spaceport America last Sunday when Virgin Galactic founder Richard Branson entered space aboard the spaceship he helped build, VSS Unity.

Cameron Klesel wasn’t just there to watch, though. Klesel, 33, works for Virgin Galactic as a “space wrench,” the company’s term for its spacecraft mechanics.

Klesel grew up in Schulenburg and graduated from high school there in 2006. Klesel said he had been an “aviation nut” from a young age and knew in high school that he wanted a career in the aviation industry.

“I went to Texas State Technical College in Waco,” Klesel said. “I studied aviation maintenance. I graduated with an associate degree, and from there, I earned my A&P, which stands for airframe and powerplant licence. To be an aircraft mechanic, those are the licences you need to get from the FAA (Federal Aviation Administration).”

Upon earning those licenses, Klesel got his first job.

“I actually started out in La Grange at Fayette Regional,” Klesel said. I worked out there for a year or so doing basic general aviation maintenance stuff.”

After that, Klesel moved back to Waco for a job with RAM Aircraft. During that time, he also earned a private pilot’s license.

“I had a buddy I was working with at the time in Waco, and he got on (at Virgin Galactic), and a few other people I knew were out there,” Klesel said. “I applied to Virgin and got on.”

Klesel works with a team of 30 other airframe and powerplant mechanics to ensure that VSS Unity is ready for flight. This was his second flight as a member of that team.

“Right now, we’re in postflight, so we’re doing a bunch of inspections to make sure everything is ship-shape after the flight,” he said. “I do a lot of electric modifications, avionics work.”

Unlike traditional groundlaunched space flight, Virgin Galactic employs a mothership airplane, White Knight, which releases the spaceplane VSS Unity at about 46,000 feet. Unity then ignites its rocket engine, propelling into space.

Virgin Galactic plans to offer commercial flights for space tourists in the near future using this platform. Operations take place at Spaceport America near Truth or Consequences, New Mexico, about an hour north of Las Cruces.

Klesel recalled learning about Branson’s vision for commercial spaceflight at a young age.

“Every day after school I would go home and watch Discovery Wings on TV,” he said. “One of the programs I would watch was about the Ansari X Prize.

Virgin Galactic’s SpaceShipOne, the predecessor of VSS Unity, won that $10 million prize back in 2004.

“To be here now, I’m living out my childhood dream,” Klesel said.

Klesel said his decision to go to trade school after high school got him on this path.

“Honestly, it’s the best bang for the buck,” he said. “I went for two years. The program I was in was basically year-round. It’s cheaper than a four-year university. They teach you a skill set, and you’re ready to get out in the field and into the real world.”

Klesel said the flight last Sunday was especially emotional for him and many of his fellow workers at Virgin Galactic. Branson, the 70-year-old billionaire who founded company, said in an interview with CNN earlier this month that he decided to join the company’s first fully-crewed test flight as a show of confidence.

“I think the least the founder of the company can do is go up there and fly with his people,” Branson said in the interview.

When Klesel was asked whether Branson’s presence on the flight made him nervous, he said “I’m always nerve-wracked when it comes to these flights.”

“You put everything you have into it,” Klesel said. “There’s so many phases of the flight. When one is over, you hear over the comms that everything went good, you take a big sigh of relieve and move on to the next phase.”

Virgin Galactic plans to conduct one more test flight before offering commercial space tourism flights next year. About 600 people have already purchased tickets, reportedly at prices up to $250,000 a seat. Branson said he hopes to reduce the ticket price to about $40,000 once operations ramp up.

“Surprisingly, it’s very emotional,” Klesel said on Sunday’s flight. “It’s very awe-inspiring. When I first started with Virgin, it was very cut-and-dry. I’m a mechanic and I’m here to fix this ship, turn it around and get it going again. It’s a repetitive cycle. But once you get close to start flying actual customers, Richard Branson’s vision is coming to life. We’re opening space to everyone so they can see we all live on this one blue rock.”

Klesel said he hopes to reach space himself one day, and maybe even pilot a spacecraft.

“As a small town kid, I had dreams, but I didn’t think much of them,” he said. “What are the chances I could get on and work for something big like this? But here I am. Never sell yourself short.”