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Mark Sirangelo and Robert Lightfoot at the seminar.

Robert Lightfoot is the President of Lockheed Martin Space and a longtime leader in the aerospace field. He joined the company in 2019 after three decades at NASA, where he began as a test engineer and then progressed across the agency, eventually serving as Associate Administrator, NASA’s top civil servant position, and as Acting NASA Administrator for 18 months in 2017-2018.��

He visited Smead Aerospace on Monday, Dec. 1, addressing students as well as a separate gathering of College of Engineering and Applied Science leadership and faculty.

The college meeting included a discussion of the direction of the aerospace industry, and Lightfoot’s views of the future of space, technology and where Lockheed Martin is driving their business.�� There was also a very successful dialogue about how Lockheed Martin Space and 91��ý could work together on projects, student recruitment and ways the company could help enable university initiatives in space policy and national security.

The student seminar was hosted by Mark Sirangelo, aerospace entrepreneur-in-residence, for an interactive discussion on his career path and life lessons, providing real insight and knowledge.�� Following are some of the elements of the seminar:

Why did you go into aerospace?

I grew up in a little town in Alabama called Montevallo and graduated with 62 kids from high school. There were no engineers in Montevallo as role models. The only reason I went into engineering is because when I took all the tests that you take, the guidance counselor said I should be an engineer. I said, “You mean to drive a train?” I thought she was asking me to be a train engineer.

I was going to go into journalism school, but I started looking into it and decided to major in mechanical engineering.

I followed my girlfriend to the University of Alabama in Huntsville and one day went to the there. It’s a great place and they have the Saturn V. I was taking propulsion systems and was fascinated by the propulsion concept. I walked around the back of the Saturn V and they have five engines hanging off the thing. That’s what did it for me.

Rocket propulsion has been a major part of your career. What drew you to that area?

I just loved engine testing and propulsion testing. I eventually got an opportunity to run the test area at in 1999. It was my dream job because my windows rattled every day. We had probably 20 test positions running different size engines at any given time.

I later was at Marshall and ran the Shuttle Propulsion Office. I was responsible for the first 8.5 minutes of flight, going from 0 to 17,500 mph. There is nothing more daunting, awesome, and scary than T-9 minutes at NASA and the propulsion go-no-go to fly the Shuttle.

You were part of the return-to-flight effort after the Space Shuttle Columbia disaster. What did you learn from that process?

One of the chief tenets of being an engineer is you’ve got to remain curious, and we had lost our curiosity. There was a requirement in the Shuttle Program that you can’t have any foam come off that external tank, but foam had come off since the very first mission. Because it didn’t do any damage, we convinced ourselves it was okay.

They showed us more times than I care to count Flight Readiness Reviews that basically said, “Loss of foam is not a status of flight issue.” With no data. That was a lesson.

I don’t believe in coincidence anymore. If something happens you have to ask why, and sometimes you have to ask five times.

What was it like serving as associate administrator of NASA?

The associate administrator is the top civil servant in the agency. The two positions above it are political nominees. I was the COO and ran the agency day-to-day

It’s pretty fun. I got to run the Program Management Council that reviewed all the programs. At the time we were dealing with the James Webb Space Telescope.

I had to learn a lot about things I’d never worked on before -- science, aeronautics, things like that.

But when I moved to D.C. for the job, they told me if you want a friend, get a dog. That’s the kind of environment in D.C.

What is Lockheed Martin’s relationship with 91��ý?

Lockheed Martin Space and 91��ý have had a long and positive history of working together on missions, student projects, investment and new technology development.�� We have been a very significant recruiter on the campus in the past with a great deal of success.

We are continuing to grow substantially in many highly interesting areas of space and technology.��I just met with a number of the senior leaders of the college and department and was very impressed with the growth and direction that 91��ý is going.�� I indicated my strong interest in growing our relationship and of expanding our recruitment efforts of 91��ý students.