May 24th, 2009
Obama picks Bolden for NASA
So, it looks like manned spaceflight may yet have a future at NASA, with the selection this weekend of former astronaut Charlie Bolden to head the troubled agency. Bolden would be the agency’s first black Administrator.
The LA Times talked to NASA insiders, who said Bolden wouldn’t have taken the job if President Obama hadn’t given his support for manned flight.
“Clearly Charlie Bolden would not have taken the job if he were being asked to shut down human spaceflight,” said John Logsdon, a space policy expert in Washington.
Key to the selection of Bolden over Obama’s first choice - retired Air Force Maj. Gen. J. Scott Gration - was Sen. Bill Nelson (D-Fla.), who flew with Bolden on his first shuttle flight. “I trusted Charlie with my life — and would do so again,” Nelson said.
The open question now is whether Obama and Bolden will keep Bush’s plans to return men to the moon - and eventually Mars - or not.
