‘This Is How We’ll Reach Mach 3:’ Virgin Galactic’s Jameel Janjua on His Long Journey to Space (Exclusive)

It was third time lucky for new pilot and now astronaut Jameel Janjua.

Janjua, who holds dual Canadian and American citizenship, flew in the pilot's seat on Virgin Galactic's most recent space flight, dubbed Galactic 07, last month. But his journey to becoming an astronaut has taken 15 years and three attempts - and that's just the time since he was a semifinalist in the Canadian Space Agency's astronaut selection process in 2009.

In the decades before Janjua became copilot of the VSS Unity spacecraft on June 8, he amassed more than 5,200 hours in 65 aircraft types in various ...