Astronaut Mary Cleave's post-NASA career

Sigma Space Corp. announced the appointment of Dr. Mary Cleave to its Board of Directors, effective October 1st, 2007.

Dr. Mary L. Cleave was the Associate Administrator for NASA's Science Mission Directorate until March of this year. She also served as deputy associate administrator (advanced planning) in the Office of Earth Science at NASA Headquarters.

A veteran of two space shuttle flights, Cleave flew as a mission specialist aboard STS-61B in 1985 and STS-30 in 1989, logging more than 10 days in space.

She received a Bachelor of Science degree in biological sciences from Colorado State University and a Master of Science in microbial ecology and a Doctorate in civil and environmental engineering from Utah State University. Dr. Cleave is the recipient of numerous awards, including the American Astronautical Society Flight Achievement Award, 1989; NASA Exceptional Achievement Medal, 1994; and NASA Engineer of the Year, 1998. In 1991 she joined NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md., where she worked as the project manager for SeaWiFS (Sea-viewing, Wide-Field-of-view-Sensor), an ocean color sensor that monitors vegetation globally.

"I am very interested in the work of Sigma Space because active optical instruments are the next frontier in understanding our planet, Earth, from space." Dr. Cleave said.

"It is a great honor for our Company to have Dr. Cleave as one of our Board members," said Sigma Space Corp. founder and president, Dr. Marcos Sirota. "Her vision will be a true asset in our quest to become a leading provider of scientific aerospace instruments for the Nation."

Dr. Cleave joins General (Retired) John H. Hall and Mr. Thomas Bouchard as non-officer members of Sigma's board of directors.

Sigma Space is one of the fastest growing providers of optoelectronic aerospace instrumentation for NASA, DOD, and commercial customers. It produces pioneering instrumentation in lidar, laser ranging, attitude determination, spectroscopy, and radiometry for remote sensing and defense applications. It also supplies optical and electronic subsystems, as well as design services to its government customers. Sigma received the NASA GSFC Contractor of the Year award for Products in 2007.