Richard James Hieb (born September 21, 1955 in Jamestown, North Dakota) is a former NASA astronaut and a veteran of three space shuttle missions. He was a mission specialist on STS-39 and STS-49, and was a payload commander on STS-65. He is currently a the Vice-President of Lockheed Martin Civil Programs under Integrated Systems and Ground Support in Houston, Texas.

Hieb's family originates from Russia and is of German descent. His mother was a long time elementary school teacher at Lincoln Elementary in Jamestown, North Dakota.

Mr. Hieb received a bachelor of arts degree in math and physics from Northwest Nazarene College in 1977. He went on to graduate from the University of Colorado at Boulder in 1979 with a master of science degree in aerospace engineering, and came directly to NASA to work in crew procedures development and crew activity planning. He worked in the Mission Control Center on the ascent team for STS-1, and during rendezvous phases on numerous subsequent flights. He has an extensive background in on-orbit procedures development, particularly in rendezvous and proximity operations.