James Slattin Martin Jr. (June 21, 1920 – April 14, 2002) was

project manager A project manager is a professional in the field of project management. Project managers have the responsibility of the Project planning, planning, procurement and execution of a project, in any undertaking that has a defined scope, defined star ...

for the

Viking program The ''Viking'' program consisted of a pair of identical American space probes, ''Viking 1'' and ''Viking 2'' both launched in 1975, and landed on Mars in 1976. The mission effort began in 1968 and was managed by the NASA Langley Research Cent ...

Biography

Martin was born in Washington, D.C., on June 21, 1920. He earned a bachelor's degree in aeronautical engineering from the

University of Michigan The University of Michigan (U-M, U of M, or Michigan) is a public university, public research university in Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest institution of higher education in the state. The University of Mi ...

in 1942. He later completed the Harvard Graduate School of Business Middle Management Program. From 1942 to 1964, he worked for Republic Aviation Corporation, assuming greater responsibility first as assistant chief technical engineer, then chief research engineers and, finally, as manager of space systems requirements. Martin joined NASA’s Langley Research Center in September 1964 as assistant project manager for Lunar Orbiter. The five successful Lunar Orbiter missions provided significant new information about the Moon’s surface and a wealth of photographic detail that stood as the definitive source of lunar surface information for years. In recognition of his contribution to this project, Martin was awarded the

NASA Exceptional Service Medal The NASA Exceptional Service Medal is an award granted to U.S. government employees for significant sustained performance characterized by unusual initiative or creative ability that clearly demonstrates substantial improvement in engineering, a ...

in 1967. On June 23, 1967, Langley Director Floyd Thompson announced the appointment of James S. Martin, Jr., as manager of the capsule bus system, thereby forming a project management organization to control all Voyager-related activities at Langley. This role migrated to project manager for NASA's Viking Program for landing and orbiting Mars (1975–1982). As

Viking 1 ''Viking 1'' was the first of two spacecraft, along with '' Viking 2'', each consisting of an orbiter and a lander, sent to Mars as part of NASA's Viking program. The lander touched down on Mars on July 20, 1976, the first successful Mars lan ...

landed on Mars, Martin hung up on a call from President Ford, telling him that he was "busy right now" and to call back in three hours. The President called back three hours later at which time Martin, along with then-NASA Administrator Jim Fletcher, briefed him on the landing.Gerald R. Ford: Telephone Conversation With National Aeronautics and Space Administration Officials on the Mars Landing of the Viking I Spacecraft
/ref> Martin left NASA in 1976 to become vice president of advanced programs and planning, for Martin Marietta Aerospace, Bethesda, MD. He retired in 1985, but in 2000, NASA called him out of retirement to help restructure the space agency's Mars program after the 1999 failures of the Mars Climate Orbiter and Mars Polar Lander missions. He died April 14, 2002, after a long battle with cancer.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Martin, James Jr. 1920 births 2002 deaths NASA people University of Michigan College of Engineering alumni Deaths from cancer in Maryland Harvard University alumni