New Head of NASA

The Hubble Space Telescope repair mission was a roaring success. It took five long space walks, some occasional muscle, the patience of Job, and a deft robot arm operator to do it. Because of a highly trained and skillful set of astronauts, a set of "whiz bang" new instruments, batteries, etc., Hubble will now have several more years of service in its scientific life as a space observatory It now has a whole new lease on life, refurbished and updated.

It was a risky mission because the shuttle Atlantis was on its own without the potential support of the International Space Station. For the first time in the space program, however, NASA was prepared to send a rescue shuttle if it became necessary. But the shuttle remained in fine shape for a return trip through earth's atmosphere. Atlantis and its seven person crew were not able to land in Florida for a couple of days because of bad weather. So Atlantis ended the Hubble trip with a California landing, which we learned about from the LA Times (5/25/09). And in a report yesterday from Reuters, we also learned that NASA will finally get a new administrator to replace Mike Griffin. To quote from the article:

President Barack Obama will name former space shuttle commander Charles Bolden to lead NASA, the White House said on Saturday, in the midst of a major shift in the U.S. human space program.

Bolden, 62, a retired Marine general, flew on four shuttle missions before leaving the U.S. space agency in 1994 to return to the military.

Bolden, who would become the 12th administrator in NASA's 51-year history and its first black head, is seen as a strong advocate for human space flight. . .

Obama also intends to name Lori Garver, a space consultant who oversaw space-related issues for his transition team, as NASA's deputy administrator, the White House said.

"These talented individuals will help put NASA on course to boldly push the boundaries of science, aeronautics and exploration in the 21st century and ensure the long-term vibrancy of America's space program," Obama said in a statement.

The nomination has been a long time in coming. But Bolden has good support in the Senate, including Senator Bill Nelson of Florida, who was also an astronaut, so he will probably be easily confirmed. They have flown together in space. And in a final irony, Charles Bolden was the pilot of the mission that originally launched the Hubble Space Telescope into space well over a decade ago. It seems like a good omen.

See these references to previous stories about this appointment.

1. "Obama meets with candidate for NASA job," from MSNBC (5/19/09)
2. Former astronaut likely to be new NASA chief," from MSNBC (5/15/09)
3. "Ex-astronaut emerges as NASA prospect," from MSNBC (1/6/09)

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