HUNTSVILLE, Ala. (WHNT) — He was director of NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center, and associate administrator at NASA headquarters in Washington. Now, Robert Lightfoot is the Executive Vice President of Space for Lockheed Martin.

That job sounds big because it is.

Lightfoot’s job includes overseeing both defense work and space exploration. Recently, NASA’s Osiris Rex mission brought material from an asteroid back to Earth. Lockheed Martin designed and built the spacecraft.

Lightfoot was in Huntsville for the opening of a new Lockheed Martin defense facility and spoke to News 19 about the latest for the company and space exploration.