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NASA admin Mike Griffin out; astronaut Charlie Bolden Jr. new admin?

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  • NASA admin Mike Griffin out; astronaut Charlie Bolden Jr. new admin?

    EDIT: Chris Bergin at NasaSpaceFlight.com is now reporting there will be an "all hands" meeting at JSC (the Johnson Space Center in Houston) this Friday where Mike Griffin will confirm his resignation and the temp. appointment of Chris Scolese until Obama chooses a successor.

    Space Politics article....

    The candidates for replacing Mike Griffin include;

    Marine Maj. Gen. (retired) Charlie Bolden Jr.: 63-year-old retired U.S. Marine Corps officer who served from 1981 to 1994 as an astronaut. Test pilot, many major commands as a Marine officer, 4 shuttle flights. Leading candidate.

    Scott Hubbard: of Stanford University, a member of the Columbia Accident Investigation Board and leader of the re-examination of the Vision for Space Exploration

    Wesley Huntress
    : of the Geophysical Laboratory at the Carnegie Institute and President of the Planetary Society in the United States

    Dr. Sally Ride: America's first female astronaut, physicist and member of the Columbia Accident Investigation Board.

    Dr. S. Alan Stern: principal investigator of the New Horizons mission to Pluto. Stern was Executive Director of the Southwest Research Institute's Space Science and Engineering Division until becoming Associate Administrator of NASA's Science Mission Directorate in 2007.

    Griffin out, Bolden in? Maybe.

    January 6, 2009 at 6:12 pm

    The Orlando Sentinel reported this afternoon
    that NASA administrator Mike Griffin is planning on leaving office on January 20, on the assumption that his resignation will be accepted by the new Obama Administration when it takes office that day, along with other Bush Administration political appointees. How serious is he planning his departure? He “has already started taking stuff out of his office back to his house,” the Sentinel reported. Recent efforts by some to lobby to keep Griffin has backfired, sources tell the paper, as even backers of keeping Griffin temporarily, like Sen. Bill Nelson, “saw the lobbying as craven”.

    Griffin would be replaced, on an interim basis, by current associate administrator Chris Scolese. (Recall that the agency’s current No. 2, deputy administrator Shana Dale, already announced her plans to resign on January 17.) As for a permanent replacement, the Sentinel claims that former astronaut Charlie Bolden “stands out above the rest” of the candidates, although doesn’t specify why Bolden is the frontrunner. Other candidates included in the report include Scott Hubbard, Sally Ride, Wes Huntress, and Alan Stern. Lori Garver, currently heading the transition team, would be in line to succeed Dale as deputy administrator.

    If Bolden is a leading candidate to succeed Griffin, though, he hasn’t been informed. This afternoon Bolden participated in a live video chat organized by the Conrad Foundation. During the chat, someone asked him to comment on the report. “The only comment on that story I can offer you is that nobody has talked to me in an official capacity,” he responded. “I have not visited with the transition team or anybody from the Obama administration. I’m incredibly honored that my name would be floated around but those are things I haven’t been approached about yet so I can’t offer you an opinion or anything.”

    One other tidbit missed in the Sentinel report: back in early 2002 Bolden was nominated to become deputy administrator shortly after Sean O’Keefe took over as administrator. That nomination was later withdrawn, though, after Congressional concerns about having an active-duty military officer (Bolden was a major general in the Marines at the time, having returned to the service after leaving the astronaut corps in the mid-90s) serving at NASA while the nation was at war. Fred Gregory became deputy administrator instead, and Bolden retired from the Marines a couple years later.
    Also: NBC News is reporting that Bolden is a “lead candidate” to succeed Griffin and adds, through a spokesman, that Sen. Nelson considers Bolden a “top-notch individual”.
    Last edited by Dr Mordrid; 6 January 2009, 20:20.
    Dr. Mordrid
    ----------------------------
    An elephant is a mouse built to government specifications.

    I carry a gun because I can't throw a rock 1,250 fps

  • #2
    NASA administrator Mike Griffin is planning on leaving office on January 20, on the assumption that his resignation will be accepted...
    Accepted? Well that's one way to put it.
    Chuck
    秋音的爸爸

    Comment


    • #3
      Yeah

      "Hey MIKE!! Don't let the door hit you in the ass on the way out"
      Dr. Mordrid
      ----------------------------
      An elephant is a mouse built to government specifications.

      I carry a gun because I can't throw a rock 1,250 fps

      Comment


      • #4
        I give even odds between Bolden and Stern. Stern is a hard-nose on budgets and has been inside NASA recently. Bolden is a flight-and-battle-hardened, get-er-done marine, which is what we could use right now, provided he doesn't get mired by the politics.

        Kevin

        Comment


        • #5
          Originally posted by Dr Mordrid View Post
          Yeah

          "Hey MIKE!! Don't let the door hit you in the ass on the way out"

          But I seem to remember you being quite enthusiastic about Griffin

          Too bad there's nobody from SETI among the candidates...

          Comment


          • #6
            I was enthusiastic about Griffim before he got bone-headed about Ares I after the preliminary reviews showed the 4-segment SRB's wouldn't cut it, then came numerous other issues capped off by the thrust oscillation fiasco - all of which added weight to the booster and reduced its throw weight to LEO. Because of these problems major mass and dimensional changes had to be made in the Orion spacecraft.

            Basically; he got obsessive-compulsive over saving his baby at all costs, including compromising the capabilities of the spacecraft it was supposed to launch. Not good.

            Keith Cowing over at NASA Watch has an interesting perspective;

            >
            >
            First of all, Mike Griffin is toast (sorry Scott and Becky, game over). Second, President-elect Obama has a broad plan. Alas, NASA's role in this plan is only partially colored in. Despite wild ruminations about what the Transition Team at NASA does or does not do or want, many things remain in limbo.

            That said, Charlie Bolden is an A-1, five star class act. At some point I will convey a seemingly innocuous encounter I had with him 20 years ago in Building 4 at JSC which, to me, speaks volumes about the man. Sean O'Keefe sought him out to be his deputy. Pentagon politics thwarted that plan. NASA's loss.

            This may all be media hype. It may also be spot on. One thing is certain, Mike Griffin is leaving. Obama has a plan. I can see a clear path wherein Bolden is a player at NASA. His post-NASA career speaks volumes to his leadership capabilities.

            Let it happen as it needs to happen, folks. Look forward, not backward.

            This could be good. Very good. You can buy engineering smarts by the yard. Yet true leadership is much harder to find, and trumps engineering smarts 7 days a week.

            This is more than being the smartest guy in the room. It is about knowing when this is - or is not - the case. Oops, Mike Griffin never installed that software.

            In the final equation, Mike Griffin is just dime-a-dozen hired help. In contrast, Charlie Bolden is a much rarer breed: NASA at its finest.

            NASA needs a true leader at the helm - not a chief engineer.

            NASA needs a Kirk in the captain's chair, not a Scotty.
            Last edited by Dr Mordrid; 7 January 2009, 03:16.
            Dr. Mordrid
            ----------------------------
            An elephant is a mouse built to government specifications.

            I carry a gun because I can't throw a rock 1,250 fps

            Comment


            • #7
              I agree completely. Unfortunately it often happens that honorable military men do not adapt well to civilian politics. If Bolden has a solid vision and can stick to his guns (and the President stands behind him) he'll do a splendid job. But he'll really have to be tough as nails to survive angry congressmen.

              Stern is a beancounter, which is also something NASA desperately needs. But does he have the long-term vision?

              If you could get the good general in the captain's chair and Stern in the first officer's seat handling the politics, you might really have a winning combination.

              Kevin

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              • #8
                And yeah, in the beginning Griffin looked like an excellent choice for NASA admin. Solid aerospace engineering background with lots of administrative experience. Too bad he went space-happy.

                Kevin

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