Douglas B. Shane was a member of the Scaled Composites astronaut team 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.

Personal

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.

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 currently the president-elect of the Society of Experimental Test Pilots.

Scaled Composite career

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.

SpaceShipOne

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.

References

• Scaled Composites biography
• Biography on Encyclopedia Astronautica
• List of American Astronauts
• Auction entry for Shane signature under category "Astronaut Autographs"