| Douglas B. Shane | |
|---|---|
| Commercial Astronaut | |
| Nationality | American |
| Other occupation | Test Pilot |
| Selection | SpaceShipOne 2003 |
| Missions | None |
Douglas B. Shane is an American test pilot and has trained as a commercial astronaut. He was a member of the Scaled Composites astronaut team[1] and one of the test pilots for SpaceShipOne, the experimental spaceplane developed by Scaled Composites. Shane worked as the operations director on the SpaceShipOne project in addition to being one of the craft's astronaut pilots.[2]
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Shane received a Bachelor of Science degree in aerospace engineering from the University of Kansas in 1982. That same year, Shane joined Scaled Composites in Mojave, California as a test pilot.
Shane designed a new model of single-engine, fixed wing airplane — the Shane Runabout — in 1988.[3]
In 1997, Shane received the Iven C. Kincheloe Award from the Society of Experimental Test Pilots for his flight test work on the Williams V-Jet II and Vision Aire Vantage. He is a past President of the Society of Experimental Test Pilots.
Shane joined Scaled as a founding member in 1982. Since 1989, he has been responsible for business development, contracts, and proposals, as well as the Company's flight test operations. Despite his management responsibilities, he is still an active test pilot for Scaled. In June 2008, Shane was appointed president of Scaled Composites, taking over this role from previous president and company founder Burt Rutan.
Although he was one of the four qualified pilots for SpaceShipOne, Shane did not fly any of the Ansari X Prize qualification flights of the craft in 2004. Instead, as director of flight operations, he supervised the flights from the control room.[2]