Former NASA Kennedy Space Center Director Jay Honeycutt Announced As President of Odyssey Moon U.S. Operations
Cocoa Beach, FL – Veteran U.S. Civil and Commercial Space executive Jay Honeycutt has been named President of Odyssey Moon Ventures LLC, responsible for all Odyssey Moon U.S. programs and commercial launch operations. Jay Honeycutt’s experience spans over 40 years of successfully managing and operating large-scale engineering, technical and operational activities, including serving as Director of the NASA Kennedy Space Center from 1995-1997 and Director of Shuttle Management and Operations from 1989-1995. Following his distinguished career with NASA, Honeycutt became President of Lockheed Martin Space Operations from 1997-2004. Jay Honeycutt’s new role with Odyssey Moon fortifies the company’s growing experienced team of space professionals dedicated to providing frequent and reliable commercial lunar missions supporting science, exploration and commerce. Odyssey Moon is also the first official contender for the $30 Million Google Lunar X PRIZE.
“I am extremely pleased and excited to be working on getting us back to the Moon in a sustainable way,” said Jay Honeycutt from his Cocoa Beach residence only a few miles from the Kennedy Space Center. “I believe the private sector has an important role to play in a permanent lunar program and Odyssey Moon has put together some pretty impressive people and plans to help make this happen. We look forward to working with NASA and other space agencies as both partners and customers in this effort.”
Jay Honeycutt began his government career in 1960 as an engineer at the Redstone Arsenal in Huntsville, Alabama. He began his NASA career in 1966 at the Johnson Space Center (JSC) in Houston, Texas as an engineer in Flight Operations for the Apollo Program. He advanced progressively through positions at JSC and NASA HQ with the Apollo, Skylab, Apollo-Soyuz and Space Shuttle programs through 1989 when he was appointed Director of Shuttle Management and Operations at the Kennedy Space Center, responsible for technical direction, preflight, launch, landing and worldwide recovery activities for Space Shuttle Vehicles involving over 8,000 employees across NASA and support contractors. Promoted to the Chief Executive of the Kennedy Space Center from 1995-1997, his responsibilities grew to managing government/contractor teams of approximately 15,000 people as well as operations and maintenance of the famous NASA facility spanning over 140,000 acres.
As President of Lockheed Martin Space Operations, Jay presided over a high tech engineering and science firm supporting human and robotic space missions, employing over 4,000 people at 10 NASA and NOAA Centers with annual sales in excess of $750M.
Odyssey Moon founder and CEO Dr. Robert (Bob) Richards says the addition of Jay Honeycutt to the Odyssey Moon team dramatically strengthens the experience and technical depth of the commercial space company and firmly establishes its U.S. presence. “Jay understands space operations form both commercial and government perspectives and he knows what it takes to get to the Moon,” Dr. Richards said. “We are thrilled that he will be leading our U.S. operations and program development as president of Odyssey Moon Ventures.”
Odyssey Moon Science Mission Director and former NASA Science Chief Dr. Alan Stern says he is very pleased with Jay’s appointment. “Jay is a consummate space professional with a tremendous track record who knows his stuff,” Dr. Stern said. “I look forward to working with Jay to put together commercial lunar missions that serve important science and exploration goals.”
Odyssey Moon Ventures LLC is a U.S. company with offices in Washington, DC and Cocoa Beach, Florida. The company intends to develop and commercialize innovative technologies to offer frequent, low cost and reliable access to the lunar surface for private and government customers.
More information about Jay Honeycutt can be found at www.nasa.gov/centers/kennedy/about/biographies/honeycut.html
About Odyssey Moon
Odyssey Moon was unveiled in December 2007 as the first official contender in the $30M Google Lunar X PRIZE competition, announcing a series of robotic missions to the Moon during the International Lunar Decade in support of science, commerce and exploration. The company is an innovative multinational partnership of aerospace, financial, science, education, legal and policy interests that have come together to offer unique commercial lunar business services and products for humanity’s permanent return to the Moon. Odyssey Moon is dedicated to the long-term responsible development of the Moon for the benefit of all Humanity.
