Team Biographies
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Founders:

• Jeff Greason
  Chief Executive Officer
• Dan DeLong
  Vice President and Chief Engineer
• Doug Jones
  Chief Test Engineer
• Aleta Jackson
  Manager

Additional Company Principals:

• Randy Baker
  Controller
• Andrew Nelson
  Chief Operating Officer

Board of Directors

• Jeff Greason
• Dan DeLong
• Stephen Fleming
• Esther Dyson
• Lee Valentine

Test Pilots

• Richard Searfoss
• Dick Rutan

Richard A. Searfoss

Rick Searfoss, Director of Flight Test Operations and Chief Test Pilot
NASA Astronaut (Former) and Colonel, USAF (Ret.)

Colonel Rick Searfoss has piloted XCOR rocket powered vehicles a total of 49 times. He flew the first generation aircraft, the EZ-Rocket nine times, and went on to fly the X-Racer, XCOR’s second generation rocket plane, 40 times including the plane’s first public appearance at EAA AirVenture 2008 in Oshkosh, Wisconsin. He was also at the controls during the record-setting seven flights in one day on October 1, 2008.

Col. Searfoss was the number one graduate in his class at the United States Air Force Academy, earning top overall, academic, engineering, and aeronautical engineering honors. He received an advanced degree from the California Institute of Technology as a National Science Foundation Graduate Fellow.  He is also a Distinguished Graduate of the U.S. Air Force Fighter Weapons (Topgun) School and U.S. Naval Test Pilot School, with over 5,900 hours flying time in 71 different types of aircraft.

As an astronaut he piloted two Space Shuttle missions and commanded a third, the STS-90 Neurolab mission on Columbia, for a total of 39 days in space.  This mission was the last and most complex of NASA’s Spacelab missions, focusing on the effects of microgravity on the brain and nervous system.  Colonel Searfoss is a recipient of the NASA Outstanding Leadership Medal and the Air Force Distinguished Flying Cross.

In addition to his work with XCOR, Rick, the “Astronaut Speaker,” is a noted professional speaker, with real-world expertise and high-content programs on leadership, teamwork, innovation, and operational execution excellence.  As the only astronaut who has earned the coveted National Speakers Association Certified Speaking Professional designation, he shares with riveting stories and examples the lessons from command in space for corporate audiences worldwide.  See his speaker website at www.astronautspeaker.com .
In his spare time Rick enjoys backpacking, running, science fiction, and model aircraft.