John Joseph Martin was educated as a mechanical engineer, receiving a Ph. D. from Purdue University

Purdue University

Purdue University, located in West Lafayette, Indiana, U.S., is the flagship university of the six-campus Purdue University system. Purdue was founded on May 6, 1869, as a land-grant university when the Indiana General Assembly, taking advantage of the Morrill Act, accepted a donation of land and...

 in 1951. He joined North American Aviation

North American Aviation

North American Aviation was a major US aerospace manufacturer, responsible for a number of historic aircraft, including the T-6 Texan trainer, the P-51 Mustang fighter, the B-25 Mitchell bomber, the F-86 Sabre jet fighter, the X-15 rocket plane, and the XB-70, as well as Apollo Command and Service...

 in 1951 and moved to the Bendix Corporation

Bendix Corporation

The Bendix Corporation was an American manufacturing and engineering company which during various times in its 60 year existence made brake systems, aeronautical hydraulics, avionics, aircraft and automobile fuel control systems, radios, televisions and computers, and which licensed its name for...

 in 1953. In 1960, he joined the Institute for Defense Analyses

Institute for Defense Analyses

The Institute for Defense Analyses is a non-profit corporation that administers three federally funded research and development centers to assist the United States government in addressing important national security issues, particularly those requiring scientific and technical expertise...

. While on sabbatical at the Royal Aircraft Establishment

Royal Aircraft Establishment

The Royal Aircraft Establishment , was a British research establishment, known by several different names during its history, that eventually came under the aegis of the UK Ministry of Defence , before finally losing its identity in mergers with other institutions.The first site was at Farnborough...

 in Farnborough, Hampshire

Farnborough, Hampshire

-History:Name changes: Ferneberga ; Farnburghe, Farenberg ; Farnborowe, Fremborough, Fameborough .Tower Hill, Cove: There is substantial evidence...

, Martin wrote "Atmospheric Entry". This book became the first and arguably the best in the open literature about designing reentry vehicles. Sir Michael James Lighthill, who was Martin's host at the Royal Aircraft Establishment, wrote the foreword to Martin's book. In 1969, Martin served as a science advisor to the US President. During 1973-1974 Martin served as an Associate Deputy Director at the Central Intelligence Agency

Central Intelligence Agency

The Central Intelligence Agency is a civilian intelligence agency of the United States government. It is an executive agency and reports directly to the Director of National Intelligence, responsible for providing national security intelligence assessment to senior United States policymakers...

and later as Deputy Assistant Secretary of the US Air Force. In 1984, Martin became an Associate Administrator at NASA.