Lockheed Martin Space Operations (LMSO) President Jay Honeycutt has announced three new executive appointments. Ken Reightler has been named LMSO senior vice president; Richard (Rick) Hieb replaces Reightler as vice president, Science, Engineering, Analysis and Test (SEAT) Operation and SEAT program manager; and Ted Bilke has joined the company as vice president, Enterprise Solutions.

Reightler assumes his new position after successfully leading the company's engineering and scientific support of Johnson Space Center during a period of intense activity in the space program as NASA and its international partners have successfully established a permanent human presence in space.

Before joining Lockheed Martin in 1995, he spent eight years with NASA as an astronaut. A veteran of two Space Shuttle flights, he logged over 327 hours in space and made 212 orbits of the Earth. Prior to joining NASA, he served as a naval officer, aviator and test pilot. His distinguished military career includes over 20 years of experience in naval aviation, both land- and carrier-based, logging over 5,000 hours of flying time in over 60 different types of aircraft.

Reightler holds a bachelor of science degree in aerospace engineering from the U.S. Naval Academy, a master of science degree in aeronautical engineering from the U.S. Naval Postgraduate School, and a master of science degree in systems management from the University of Southern California. He is also a distinguished graduate of the U.S. Naval Test Pilot School.

Hieb, a former astronaut, joins LMSO from Orbital Sciences Corporation, where he was vice president, new business, and Crew Return Vehicle (CRV) program manager. In that position, he was responsible for new business in Orbital's Advanced Programs Group, which included the CRV for the space station and the Second Generation Reusable Launch Vehicle Risk Reduction Program, which is part of NASA's Space Launch Initiative. Prior to joining Orbital, he served from 1995 to 1999 as director, commercial space, for AlliedSignal Technical Services Corp.

Hieb retired from NASA in 1995 after six years in the Mission Operations Directorate at Johnson Space Center and almost 10 years in the Astronaut Corps. He flew three Space Shuttle missions, serving as payload commander for the second International Microgravity Laboratory mission on STS-65 and as a mission specialist on STS-49 and STS-39. He has logged over 750 hours in space, including more than 17 hours of EVA.

He holds a master of science degree in aerospace engineering from the University of Colorado, Boulder, and bachelor of arts degree in physics and mathematics from Northwest Nazarene College in Idaho.

Bilke joins Lockheed Martin after most recently serving as chief operating officer for Ascendant Solutions, a business-to-business solutions provider based in Dallas. He also has served as director, LAN management services, for MCI Systemhouse and vice president, integration services, for Bell & Howell. He spent ten years at EDS where he built a strong foundation of commercial IT experience. He holds a BSBA degree in finance and marketing from Missouri Southern State College.

Lockheed Martin Space Operations, a business unit of Lockheed Martin Technology Services headquartered in Cherry Hill, New Jersey, is a high-technology company with about 4,000 engineers, scientists and support personnel. Services include data collection, telemetry, and communication operations support for NASA; software and hardware engineering for the Space Shuttle and International Space Station; mission operations and planning systems design, development, and integration; human life sciences research; and commercial information technology services.

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SOURCE: Lockheed Martin Space Operations