Larry Clark, ’96, had never even flown on a commercial jet before he left his small hometown in upstate New York and enrolled at Florida Tech. His total time in the air, in fact, could be measured in minutes. At age 17, he had talked his parents into letting him ride on a Cessna introductory flight. Yet he came to Florida to learn to be a pilot.

“On the flight to Florida, I remember buckling into my seat as they were powering for takeoff. I thought to myself, ‘I hope I like this, this is what I’m doing. This is my career. I hope I’m not scared to death,’” Clark said.

Now 30, Clark, an accomplished commercial airline pilot and flight instructor, is in line to become one of the world’s first private astronauts. His company, Canadian Arrow, is one of more than two dozen teams in a $10 million race to send a private ship into space. ... continued