While Tom DeLay doesn’t have an official role in the confirmation of Michael Griffin as the next NASA Administrator, Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison—chair of the Senate Commerce Committee’s space subcommittee—certainly does. On Monday her office issued a terse press release endorsing Griffin’s selection. “I have spoken with Dr. Griffin about working together to reauthorize NASA and implement our vision for NASA’s future,” she said in the statement. “I look forward to his hearing tomorrow and, hopefully, a smooth confirmation.”
Meanwhile, there’s a report that some space activists will hold a rally Tuesday morning in support of Griffin and manned spaceflight in general. Let’s just hope they show up at the right place: the report says the group, including some NSS and Space Generation Foundation members, will meet at 9am at the “Russell House Office Building”; presumably they mean the Russell Senate Office Building (where the confirmation hearing will take place), although where in the vicinity of the building hasn’t been announced.
