By Ted D.
I began at
Lockheed in 1958 at the Missiles and Space Company. Thermodynamics was my
interest, and I worked creating analytical models for the behavior of heat shields
on re-entry bodies. In 1968, I transferred to a new business unit, and we won a
contract to fly some experimental re-entry vehicles with various heat shields.
After that, I
worked in systems engineering in the Missile Systems Division on the Trident
and Poseidon re-entry bodies. During that time, Vice President Herschel Brown
retired, and he distributed a paper from his retirement speech which contained
some cogent advice, “Make Lockheed your career.”
I said to myself, “Why not?”
In 1980, I
decided to move from the Missile Systems Division to the Space Systems
Division, and see what opportunities lay there. I was fortunate to land a
position on the Hubble Space Telescope in systems engineering. Next, I worked on the International Space
Station in systems engineering for the remainder of my Lockheed Martin career. I
thank Mr. Brown for those inspiring words.
