Dennis Deel (1946-2011) was born in Rotan, Texas and raised in Levelland, Texas. After obtaining his Associate of Science, from South Plains College in 1967, Dennis continued his education at Texas A&M University, graduating in 1971 with his master of science in aerospace engineering. In 1971, Deel began his career at Martin Marietta, in Denver, as a stress and structural test engineer on the Viking Mars Lander Project. In 1974 he accepted a position with Martin Marietta in New Orleans to begin work on the Space Shuttle External Tank Project. Deel was named chief engineer of the external tank in 1989 and president and general manager of Lockheed Martin Space System, Michoud Operations in 1997. In 2004, Deel returned to Denver where he finished his career with Lockheed Martin Space Systems, the corporation in which he would retire from in 2011 after 40 years dedicated to following his dream of space exploration, manned and unmanned.
