Shaw, Brewster Hopkinson, Jr (1945- )

US astronaut and head of the Space Shuttle Operations Branch at NASA 1989-95. His three space shuttle flights included piloting the Columbia mission in November 1983 with the first Spacelab and first international shuttle crew. Shaw was selected as an astronaut in 1978, and also became the space shuttle deputy programme manager in 1992. He left NASA and the US Air Force in 1996 to join Rockwell. That year Rockwell was acquired by Boeing for whom Shaw served in several positions. In 2003 he became chief operating officer of United Space Alliance (USA), the prime contractor for the Space Shuttle Program.