A Scottish pilot who grew up in the Highlands was at the centre of Sir Richard Branson’s historic trip to the edge of space on Sunday afternoon.

David Mackay, who grew up in Helmsdale, Sutherland, was the chief pilot for Virgin Galactic’s Unity test mission. 

On Sunday afternoon, the UK businessman embarked on a 1.5 hour mission at about 08:40 local US time (3:40pm BST) above New Mexico to evaluate the experience of visiting the edge of space before allowing paying customers to take the flight next year.

Mr Mackay spoke to BBC Scotland ahead of the trip and said he wanted to make commercial space flights as accessible to as many people as possible.

The 64-year-old was one of two pilots and four ‘mission specialists’ - including Sir Richard - who embarked on the flight.

Virgin Galactic’s Unity 22 was expected to reach an altitude of about 90km.

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Towards the top of the climb, those onboard would experience a few minutes of weightlessness and a view of the curvature of the Earth.

However, it is not Mr Mackay’s first venture to space. The University of Glasgow graduate became the first native-born Scot to visit space.

He first guided a Virgin Galactic space craft 90km above Earth in February 2019, and said the view was "burned" into his memory.

Speaking to BBC Scotland, he said: "It affected me more than I anticipated - the incredible blackness of space.

"If you think about it, when you're on Earth and are looking horizontally you're looking through a lot of moisture and dust particles and even on a clear day you're still looking through miles and miles of pollution.

"But when you're up in space you're looking directly down... the colours on the ground look incredibly vivid and in contrast to this incredibly dark sky.

"And then on top of all that you see so much of the curvature of the Earth and you get a sense of scale of the planet and you realise it's not very big."

Mr Mackay, who grew up in the Highlands in the 1960s, remembers watching Buccaneers from RAF Lossiemouth fly overhead at incredible speeds on an "almost daily basis."

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When he watched the moon landings and noticed most astronauts were former military test pilots, his dream of flying to space came within reach.

He completed a degree in aeronautical engineering at Glasgow University and then served 16 years in the RAF. 

He said that during his early 30s he experienced a “dawning realisation” that he may not become an astronaut as the UK did not have a human space programme.

The Herald:

He joined Virgin Atlantic in 1995  flying Boeing 747s as a Captain from 1999; he also flew the Airbus A340 from 2002 and finished with over 11,000 flying hours.

He then joined Virgin Galactic in 2009 and became their chief pilot.

Earlier this year, Unity took the first of three key test flights that would enable it to enter commercial service.

Sir Richard has some 600 paying customers - including movie and music stars - waiting to take the same ride when commercial flights become available.

While he has spent at least a decade watching others become awestruck as they gaze upon their home planet, Mr Mackay hopes that commercial space travel will inspire real change among passengers.

He said: "It's the remoteness and fragility and our utter dependence on the thinness of the atmosphere.

"I would like to think that some of the outcomes are people will take more care of what they're doing, be much more open minded about who we are all - we're all one human race and we're all sharing this small planet that's so remote.

"There's nothing else practically habitable within reach. We've got to get on together and we've got to look after what we've got."