An article by Andy Pasztor in today’s Wall Street Journal (one that does not appear to require a subscription) reports that retired general Lester Lyles is under consideration to be NASA administrator by the Obama administration. That Lyles is being considered isn’t necessarily new—NASA Watch reported the rumors about Lyles over a week ago—but the Journal article does note that Lyles’s name “has circulated widely on Capitol Hill and his credentials have been examined by White House aides.” The article doesn’t mention, though, what sort of timeframe there might be for finally coming to a decision on Lyles or someone else.
An extended delay in naming the next administrator, Pasztor speculates, “could strengthen the position of Sen. [Bill] Nelson and others who support the current space program and the thousands of jobs it provides in Florida and elsewhere” since it would take a new administrator months to carry out a review of NASA priorities, and the new administration hasn’t made its space policy priorities clear (although to be fair, they’ve been in office only two and a half weeks and have been a little preoccupied with other matters.) And while Bill Nelson was strongly critical of Gration (enough, reportedly, to put a halt to plans to nominate him last month), the Journal does note that “[s]ome industry and government officials say Gen. Gration is still in the running.”
If it’s Lyles, here’s hoping the same Lyles that helped author the “Report of the President’s Commission on Implementation of United States Space Exploration Policy: A Journey to Inspire, Innovate, and Discover” shows up in the Administrator’s suite. NASA’s human space flight programs could use a lot of innovation so they’d actually make a few discoveries and be a little inspirational.
http://govinfo.library.unt.edu/moontomars/index.htm
FWIW…
It is the same Lyles who was on the Aldridge Commission.
Now THAT is a flicker of hope!
“It is the same Lyles who was on the Aldridge Commission.”
Right — I was just stating (however clumsily) that I hope the same “Lyles” with the same attitude and solutions that showed up in the Aldridge Commission shows up in the Administrator’s suite, i.e., that he hasn’t changed his thinking or positions.
FWIW…
Someone is going to get this job – hopefully it will be SOON. As it is, we are stuck as various Centers battle it out, various programs keep working (but at less than full speed), and time inexorably passes. If we are gonna fly the Shuttle let’s get on with it. If we are gonna fly Connie/Orion let’s get on with it.
We need a budget and a plan!
I hope the same “Lyles†with the same attitude and solutions that showed up in the Aldridge Commission shows up in the Administrator’s suite, i.e., that he hasn’t changed his thinking or positions.
Do we know what General Lyles’ thinking or positions were on the Commission? It was the product of a committee. I would hope, though, regardless, that other former commission members (e.g., Paul Spudis) might be able to influence him.
“Do we know what General Lyles’ thinking or positions were on the Commission? It was the product of a committee.”
He and every other member of the commission agreed to and signed their name to the specific wording of the report with no dissenting opinions. That’s no guarantee that Lyles paid careful attention to every statement and hasn’t changed (won’t change) his mind on key topics since then. But in term of general thrust, he agreed to the commission’s recommendations at one point in time and hopefully still does.
“I would hope, though, regardless, that other former commission members (e.g., Paul Spudis) might be able to influence him.”
For human space flight programs, the NASA Administrator certainly could do (and has done) worse.
FWIW…
SIMBERG: I would hope, though, regardless, that other former commission members (e.g., Paul Spudis) might be able to influence him.
I hope that Lyles might listen to other former commission members such as Bob Walker, before listening to Spudis.
Walker is more focused on “space commerce”, or the “how”. Spudis is more focused on the destination. As long as the destination is beyond LEO, the means is much more important.
Quite a few people have been talking up going to the asteroids instead of the Moon in the near term. That would be fine by me, as long as they shift the strategy for getting there.
– Al
I agree with the point on the destination, but one of the Aldridge Commission recommendations that I thought misguided was the notion of an intrinsic need for heavy lift. I think that I’ve at least started to bring Paul around on that.
Rand,
I agree with you that the “heavy lift” recommendation was misguided.
I think it will be difficult to totally eliminate the “heavy lift” initiative, as the the Senator from MSFC is a power player.
FWIW,
– Al
Unless we can convert Marshall people to building propellant depots.
It makes a lot more sense than having them build windmills.
[…] Early murmurs surfaced at NASA Watch, and culminated in an article from the Wall Street Journal (with some excellent additional coverage to be found over at Space Politics). […]
[…] who might those four (or several) be? If reports like the article Saturday in the Wall Street Journal are to be believed, Lester Lyles is likely one of them. So may be Jonathan Scott Gration, the sure […]