Coats also served as vice president of Civil Space Programs at Lockheed Martin Missiles and Space in California from 1996 to 1998, focusing his efforts on several key NASA programs, such as the Hubble Space Telescope and major portions of the International Space Station. He was vice president of Avionics and Communications Operations for Loral Space Information Systems from 1991 to 1996, responsible for avionics and software for the space shuttle at NASA-JSC.

Coats joined NASA in 1978 as a member of the first astronaut class specifically selected to fly the space shuttle. He flew three shuttle missions, the first as pilot for the maiden flight of Discovery in 1984. He commanded two subsequent shuttle missions, logging a total of more than 463 hours in space. He also served as acting chief of NASA’s Astronaut Office from May 1989 to March 1990. Before joining NASA, he was a distinguished U.S. Navy aviator and captain, flying 315 combat missions in Southeast Asia from 1970 to 1972, and working as a test pilot and flight instructor at the Naval Test Pilot School. He has logged more than 5,000 hours of flight time in 28 different types of aircraft. He retired from NASA and the Navy in August 1991.

Coats’ current assignment as NASA-JSC director involves planning, organizing and directing all activities required to accomplish the missions assigned to the JSC,one of the nation’s prime space research and operations centers. Responsibilities include human spaceflight, program and project management, spacecraft engineering and design, flight crew training, space and life sciences research and mission operations.

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