Robert M. Lightfoot, Jr.
| Robert M. Lightfoot Jr. | |
|---|---|
.jpg) |
|
|
Administrator of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration Acting |
|
|
Assumed office January 20, 2017 |
|
| President | Donald Trump |
| Deputy | Lesa Roe (Acting) |
| Preceded by | Charles Bolden |
| Associate Administrator of National Aeronautics and Space Administration | |
|
Assumed office September 25, 2012 |
|
| President |
Barack Obama Donald Trump |
| Deputy | Lesa Roe |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 1963 Montevallo, Alabama, US |
| Spouse(s) | Caroline Smith |
| Education | Bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering at University of Alabama |
| Occupation | Associate Administrator of NASA (Highest Civil position) |
| Website | NASA Biography |
Robert M. Lightfoot Jr. (born 1962/63) is an engineer and the Acting Administrator of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). He is also the incumbent Associate Administrator of NASA. Succeeding Charles Bolden, Lightfoot became the space agency's acting Associate Administrator on March 5, 2012. That job became permanent on September 25, 2012. He had previously served as the eleventh Director of the NASA Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, from March 2009 until his promotion in March 2012.
Lightfoot is acting NASA Administrator effective 20 January 2017 at noon ET.
Lightfoot joined NASA in 1989 as a test engineer and program manager at Marshall. In 1998, he was named deputy division chief of Marshall's propulsion test division. Lightfoot moved to NASA's John C. Stennis Space Center in 1999 as chief of propulsion test operations. In 2001, he was named deputy director of the Propulsion Test Directorate at Stennis and in March 2002 he was promoted to director.
From 2003 to 2005, Lightfoot served as assistant associate administrator for the Space Shuttle Program in the Office of Space Operations at NASA Headquarters in Washington, D.C. He returned to Marshall in 2005 as manager of the Space Shuttle Propulsion Office. In 2007, Lightfoot was named deputy director of Marshall where he shared responsibility for managing the center. He served in that capacity until becoming acting director on March 26, 2009, after the retirement of the previous director, David A. King. Lightfoot was formally named as the eleventh director of the Marshall Space Flight Center on August 24, 2009. He led Marshall through the transition from the Shuttle era to the Space Launch System.
In February 2012, NASA announced that Lightfoot would become the space agency's acting Associate Administrator as of March 5, 2012. The position opened when Chris Scolese was named the new director of the Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. Lightfoot's successor at Marshall was Arthur E. "Gene" Goldman, named as acting director in March 2012. He, Lightfoot, shifted from acting to permanent Associate Administrator on September 25, 2012.
...
Wikipedia