BETHESDA, MD, May 4th, 1999 -- Lockheed Martin has named A. Thomas Young, former president and chief operating officer of Martin Marietta, to chair an independent panel of experts to conduct a comprehensive review of program management, engineering and manufacturing processes, and quality control procedures at Astronautics, Missiles & Space and Michoud Space Systems. The panel will report its findings to the corporation's senior management not later than September 1, 1999. "Although our Mission Success rate as a corporation has been in the range of 97 percent, it's also clear that recent launch vehicle missions have not met their objectives," said Pete Teets, Lockheed Martin president and chief operating officer. "This is unacceptable in a company that takes the concept of performance and quality as seriously as Lockheed Martin does. We and our customers expect Mission Success and we will deliver nothing less. The panel of highly qualified experts led by Tom Young will help us identify additional steps that Space & Strategic Missiles Sector president, Tom Corcoran and I can take to improve our launch vehicle operations as well as operations on other Space Sector programs."

The independent assessment panel will be drawn from persons inside and outside Lockheed Martin who have a broad range of manufacturing, engineering, and program management expertise. Lockheed Martin management and staff will fully support the panel in its efforts.

"Tom Young is a nationally recognized leader in the aerospace community, having successfully managed complex, technically challenging programs during his many years at NASA and in industry. He has served as mission director of the 1976 Viking landings on Mars, for which he received the NASA Distinguished Service Medal, and later as Director of Goddard Space Flight Center. He is a member of the National Academy of Engineering and an Honorary Fellow of AIAA. He thoroughly understands the demanding processes involved in successfully launching payloads into space and executing developmental programs. Based upon his broad knowledge of the issues involved, I know Tom Young will have specific insights and recommendations to make regarding our Corporation's practices, processes, and procedures that will help us return to the level of performance that all of us -- most especially, our customers -- expect from Lockheed Martin," Teets said.