A Scottish astronaut who came to worldwide acclaim after helping to build a craft that was sent to outer space has died. Brian Binnie's family announced earlier this week the sad passing of the former US Navy fighter pilot.
Considered to be the 'first Scot in space', he piloted the SpaceShipOne which claimed a $10million prize and reached a peak altitude of 69.6 miles (112km). The craft surpassed the internationally-recognised von Kármán line separating Earth's atmosphere from outer space and broke the record for a winged-craft in 2004.
Brian was born in West Lafayette, Indiana, to his Scottish dad who at the time was a professor of physics at Purdue University. According to Aberdeen Live, the family returned to Scotland when he was five and lived in the Milltimber area of Aberdeen.
