May « 2009 « Space Politics

It’s official

By Jeff Foust on 2009 May 23 at 9:01 am ET

Florida Today reports this morning that the White House has officially nominated Charles Bolden to be NASA Administrator, and also nominated Lori Garver as Deputy Administrator. This confirms reports this morning by the Orlando Sentinel and NBC News that a Bolden announcement would come Saturday.

The timing, it seems, was intended to be tied to […]

Announcement today?

By Jeff Foust on 2009 May 22 at 1:19 pm ET

According to the Orlando Sentinel, “the buzz around the White House today is that the NASA press corps should expect a late-in-the-day announcement” that would presumably be the president’s nomination for NASA administrator. If so, the timing would be a bit odd: late in the afternoon before a three-day holiday weekend, with much of official […]

Conflicting guidance on ISS commercial resupply funding

By Jeff Foust on 2009 May 22 at 1:04 pm ET

When NASA decided to put $150 million of the $1 billion in stimulus funding the agency received this year towards development of commercial ISS resupply capabilities, although not specifically towards Capability D (crew transportation) of the Commercial Orbital Transportation Services (COTS) program, agency officials likely thought they were taking a prudent step towards eventually securing […]

Examining Bolden’s lobbying career

By Jeff Foust on 2009 May 22 at 5:12 am ET

One of the issues that has come up in the consideration of former astronaut Charles Bolden as a potential NASA administrator was his work as a lobbyist for ATK. “It’s something that should be aired and discussed. I don’t know if it is a detraction or not, but it’s something the public should be aware […]

Obama: NASA administrator announcement soon, with some “hoopla”

By Jeff Foust on 2009 May 20 at 7:58 pm ET

Late Wednesday afternoon President Obama spoke with the STS-125 crew (MP3 file). Much of the talk centered around platitudes about the successful repair of the Hubble Space Telescope, but at one point in the conversation with commander Scott Altman the topic turned to the vacancy at the top of the space agency:

Obama: You […]

Yes, they met

By Jeff Foust on 2009 May 19 at 12:54 pm ET

The AP confirms that President Obama met with Charles Bolden this morning, presumably to talk about the NASA administrator position. The only detail provided by a White House spokesman is that “The administration isn’t expected to announce a new NASA chief immediately,” according to the brief report.

Space policy post-ings

By Jeff Foust on 2009 May 19 at 7:04 am ET

The New York Post is probably one of the last pages you’d turn for commentary on space policy topics, yet on Sunday no fewer than three op-ed pieces on the future of space policy appeared in that newspaper. However, in general you’re not missing too much.

In one piece, former astronaut Tom Jones makes the […]

NASA budget hearings this week

By Jeff Foust on 2009 May 19 at 6:42 am ET

NASA’s FY2010 budget proposal will be reviewed this week by two Congressional committees. This afternoon the House Science and Technology Committee will hold a hearing on the budget proposal, with acting administrator Chris Scolese as the sole witness. On Thursday afternoon the Science and Space subcommittee of the Senate Commerce Committee will have its own […]

One more day

By Jeff Foust on 2009 May 18 at 5:25 pm ET

In an article in today’s issue of The Space Review, I noted that a lot of people in the space field had been experiencing “angst or impatience” about the lack of a NASA administrator nominee, something that would appear to be assuaged in the immediate future given the rumors that the administration is about to […]

The Rorschach presser

By Jeff Foust on 2009 May 16 at 4:30 pm ET

As the news accounts of the impending (maybe) meeting between President Obama and potential NASA administrator candidate Charles Bolden mount, it’s interesting to see how different publications report on similar events, namely the White House press conference Friday where press secretary Robert Gibbs indicated that the President would be meeting with Bolden. Or did he? […]

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