The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) is an independent federal agency responsible for developing and implementing the nation’s space program. This includes planning long-term civilian and military aerospace research, development of manned and unmanned missions into space, and the training of astronauts. Because of its space-based mission, NASA is one of the government’s best known operations, going all the way back to the 1960s Apollo program and its grainy television footage of the first men landing on the moon. While NASA has captured the imaginations of millions of Americans, it also has produced some of the greatest tragedies in recent US history, specifically the loss of the Space Shuttles Challenger and Columbia. NASA is now planning a return to its roots with a new program to send astronauts back to the Moon, and perhaps even further into space. This initiative has sparked much debate and controversy both inside and outside of the federal government.
On October 4, 1957, the USSR launched Sputnik 1 into orbit. This man-made satellite made it possible for the United States’ cold war enemy to spy on its military installations all over the world. A second satellite, Sputnik 2, was launched on November 3, 1957, with a dog named Laika serving as the first living passenger in space.
Alarmed by this threat to national security, Congress worked with President Dwight D. Eisenhower to find a non-military solution. They created the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, or DARPA, to assist in this goal.
The US launched its first satellite, called Satellite 1958 Alpha (aka Explorer 1), on January 31, 1958, and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) was formed on July 29, 1958, when the National Aeronautics and Space Act was signed into law.
NASA’s formal operations began on October 1, 1958. It consisted of four laboratories and approximately 80 employees transferred from the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA). Wernher von Braun, a naturalized US citizen from Germany, became the de facto leader of the new space program. His Army Ballistic Missile Agency and the Naval Research Laboratory were quickly folded into NASA and charged with the same goals.
The “space race,” as it came to be called, pitted the US against the Soviets for supremacy of the sky. Project Mercury, begun in 1958, was the first space mission manned by American astronauts. Its mission was to discover whether humans could survive in space. Representatives from the Army, Navy and Air Force were chosen to assist in the development of this project. The NASA Space Task Group coordinated their efforts with existing US defense research and infrastructure and received assistance from both experimental aircraft and an accompanying military test pilot program in the 1950s.
Astronaut Alan Shepard was the first American in space (May 5, 1961) when he piloted Freedom 7 on a 15-minute suborbital flight into the earth’s atmosphere. John Glenn became the first American to orbit the earth on February 20, 1962, when he piloted Friendship 7 on a 5.75-hour flight.
The Mercury program proved that humans could survive in space, given support for atmospheric and gravitational changes. Project Gemini was launched shortly thereafter to determine whether flight to the Moon was possible. Gemini 3, flown by astronauts Gus Grissom and John Young, was launched on March 23, 1965. No more Gemini missions followed, as the initial flight proved that vehicles in space could dock successfully.
In the late 1960s, the Apollo program was promoted to land humans on the Moon and bring them safely back to earth. Apollo 1 ended in tragedy, as all three astronauts ( Command Pilot Virgil I. "Gus" Grissom, Senior Pilot Ed White and Pilot Roger B. Chaffee) died in a command module fire during an experimental simulation. The US space program pulled back, testing a few unmanned spacecraft before men boarded any new missions. Apollo 8 and Apollo 10 orbited the moon successfully, returning photographs and related data.
On July 20, 1969, Apollo 11 landed the first man on the Moon. Neil Armstrong became famous overnight for uttering the words, “One small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.” Millions watched him take the first few steps on the Moon’s surface. Apollo 13 suffered a malfunction and did not land on the Moon. It was able to return photographs, as did six additional Apollo missions. Other data gathered included more than 400 kilograms of lunar samples. Experiments measured soil mechanics, meteoroids, seismic activity, heat flow, lunar ranging, magnetic fields and solar wind activity.
During the 1970s, the US space program became involved in designing and launching the first space station that could provide a semi-permanent base in space and which would conduct constant experiments on the changing conditions of space. In 1973, the US launched Skylab into orbit. It remained in orbit from 1973 to 1979 and was visited by crews three times, in 1973 and 1974. Originally, Skylab’s mission was to measure the shifting gravity of other solar systems, but it was cut short due to lack of interest and funding. A space shuttle, which had been planned to dock with and elevate Skylab to a safer altitude, was not completed in time. As a result, Skylab entered the earth’s atmosphere and was destroyed in 1979.
The Voyager Mars Program grew out of the Apollo Applications Program, between 1966 and 1968, and was planned to send a series of unmanned NASA probes to Mars. A manned mission was estimated to launch in 1980. However, funding for the program was cut in 1971. Development of the Viking program in the mid-1970s incorporated much of the Voyager Mars program’s mission. This program was cheaper and simpler than Voyager and was able to be completed using the funding already appropriated. Viking 1 and Viking 2 probes were launched to Mars in 1975, and reached Mars in 1976. The Voyager name was recycled for the Mariner 11 and Mariner 12 probes to outer planets. The orbiter portions of the probes photographed the surface of Mars, and the lander studied the planet’s surface. Information received was instrumental in designing subsequent missions to Mars.
The Apollo-Soyuz Test Project (ASTP) unified the US and Soviet space programs under one mission. It launched in July 1975 and signified the last Apollo flight for the US. The test project included several scientific missions, including an engineered solar eclipse by Apollo for Soyuz to take pictures of the corona. It provided useful information on how to sync the two space programs and served as part of the formation of the Shuttle-Mir Program, which would help to relax tension caused by the space race. This was also the last US manned space launch until April 1981.
Although a space shuttle program was in the planning stages in the 1970s, it wasn’t until the 1980s that it was successfully launched. On April 12, 1981, Columbia was sent into space. Designed to be part of a 4-vehicle fleet of spacecraft, Columbia was to be frequently launchable and entirely reusable.
However, the Columbia flights were much more expensive than NASA had projected. Pubic interest in space traveled waned again, and the Challenger disaster of 1986 further illustrated the dangers of space travel. On January 28th, a civilian joined a crew of professional astronauts for the first time. Sharon Christa McAuliffe, a teacher, completed NASA’s training program before being chosen to accompany the flight into space. But 73 seconds after Challenger was launched, an O-ring seal failed on the craft’s right Solid Rocket Booster (SRB). This ignited an enormous flare that burned the rocket’s propellants and completely disintegrated the craft live on national television. All seven members of the crew were killed.
NASA was criticized for its lack of openness with the press in the wake of the disaster. Speculation ran rampant, with The New York Times and United Press International running stories suggesting that an external fuel tank had caused the explosion. The Presidential Commission on the Space Shuttle Challenger Accident, also known as the Rogers Commission, was charged with investigating the disaster. The commission worked for several months and published a report of its findings. Conclusions about the design flaw that allowed the faulty O-ring to remain placed blame at the feet of NASA and its contractor, Morton Thiokol’s, failure to address the design flaw. Additional conclusions faulted communication between Thiokol and NASA regarding the design flaw.
During the rest of the 1980s, the space program worked quietly on the Space Station Freedom, but some scientists at NASA wondered if unmanned missions such as the Voyager probes would return more useful scientific data. The Hubble Space Telescope (HST, or Hubble), named after American astronomer Edwin Hubble, was carried into orbit by a Space Shuttle in April 1990. It served as an important research tool and helped to repair damaged public relations following the Challenger disaster.
The US space program again worked with the Russians in 1995 as the Shuttle-Mir missions were launched. An American craft again docked with a Russian craft, and together they created the largest space station ever built - the International Space Station (ISS). But costs over $100 billion made it hard for NASA to justify ISS to constituents, who remain unimpressed by scientific experiments in space.
NASA faced budget cuts throughout the 1990s, but adopted a “faster, better, cheaper” method of doing business and began the Discovery Program during this time. Although the Mars Climate Orbiter and the Mars Polar Lander were both lost in 1999, NASA made 116 successful launches between 1995 and 2006.
The Space Shuttle Columbia had flown 27 successful research missions when it was launched on February 1, 2003. But then the spacecraft disintegrated over Texas when it re-entered the earth’s atmosphere. Subsequently, it was found that a piece of foam insulation had broken off during launch and damaged the craft’s thermal protection system (TPS). All seven members of the crew were killed.
The Columbia Accident Investigation Board, convened to investigate the disaster, recommended technical and organizational issues and set the space program back two years as a result of its findings. Construction of the International Space Station was put on hold indefinitely, and the station was forced to rely on the Russian Federal Space Agency for re-supply and crew rotation until the “Return to Space” Space Shuttle mission was launched in July 2005.
By July of 2003, an Associated Press poll showed that 66% of Americans still favored space exploration. On January 14, 2004, ten days after the Mars Exploration Rover Unit landed, President George W. Bush announced the Vision for Space Exploration, which called for the retirement of the space shuttle fleet by 2010, the completion of ISS, and the development of the Crew Exploration Vehicle. It also called for a return to the Moon by 2018 in order to set up outposts for potential future missions to Mars. Congress provided start-up funds for the first year of the new space program in late 2004.
Various delays ensued, but on July 26, 2005, Space Shuttle Discovery was launched, returning the US to space. Although the flight was successful, a piece of foam similar to the one that caused the Columbia accident was dislodged, grounding the shuttles until the problem was solved. The flight’s re-entry was delayed by two days due to adverse weather. But the entire crew returned safely on August 9, 2005.
In late August of 2005, the Michoud Assembly Facility, where the external tanks were constructed, was damaged in Hurricane Katrina. This delayed subsequent flights by several months, while damage from the hurricane was assessed. STS-121, the second “Return to Flight” mission, was launched on July 4, 2006, after two previous launches had been scrubbed. Severe thunderstorms and high winds around the launch pad made the launch a safety hazard, but it was made over the objections of the mission’s chief engineer and safety head. Discovery touched down successfully on July 17, 2006, after increasing the ISS crew to three.
Later, it was found that STS-121 had shed more foam than NASA engineers had expected. Although this did not delay the next mission, weather problems and other technical glitches continued to stymie scientists. Atlantis was the next successful space mission in September 2006.
On December 4, 2006, NASA announced that it was planning to build a permanent base on the Moon. Building is slated to commence in 2020, with a projected completion date of 2024.
In the new millennium, NASA has also shifted its focus to surveying Mars and Saturn (the Cassini probe), as well as deepening its studies of the Earth and Sun. The agency has sent spacecraft to Mercury and has Jupiter missions in the planning stages. The New Horizons mission to Pluto was launched in 2006 and will arrive in 2015.
In August of 2007, the Phoenix Mars Mission was launched. As a joint project of NASA and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, CA, its lander will search for water in the northern pole of Mars. Taking up where the failed 1999 Mars Polar Lander left off, the new lander is sturdier and has better imaging equipment. Mars Science Laboratory is under construction and slated to launch in 2009.
On September 28, 2007, NASA Administrator Michael D. Griffin revealed plans to put a man on Mars by 2037.
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) is responsible for carrying out space exploration, scientific discovery and aeronautics research. Presently, the agency manages orbital and off-planet missions such as Spirit and Opportunity, the Mars Exploration Rovers still studying the planet after more than three years; Cassini, a satellite in orbit around Saturn; the Hubble Space Telescope orbiting Earth that helps scientists explore the deepest reaches of space; the International Space Station, which is extending the permanent human presence in space; and Earth science satellites that send back data on oceans, climate and other features.
Future programs that NASA is working on include completing the International Space Station and retiring the Space Shuttle by 2010; launching robotic missions to the Moon and returning astronauts there by 2020 ( Constellation program); continuing robotic exploration of Mars and the solar system; and developing a crew exploration vehicle and other technologies required to send people beyond low Earth orbit.
NASA operates 10 field centers and a variety of installations that conduct the day-to-day work in laboratories, on air fields, in wind tunnels and in control rooms. These include the White Sands Test Facility, Wallops Fight Facility, Goddard Institute of Space Studies, Ames Research Center, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Dryden Flight Research Center, Johnson Space Center, Stennis Space Center, Marshall Space Flight Center, Kennedy Space Center, Langley Research Center and the Glenn Research Center.
NASA also maintains four mission directorates under which most agency operations fall. These are:
Aeronautics - NASA’s Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate (ARMD) works to enhance the state of aeronautics by conducting cutting-edge research in traditional aeronautical disciplines and emerging fields. ARMD addresses research challenges that must be overcome in order to create the Next Generation Air Transportation System (NextGen) (PDF). The directorate helps find solutions for increasing the capacity, efficiency and flexibility of the country’s national air space, while also examining ways to help address substantial noise, emissions, efficiency, performance and safety challenges that must be met in order to design vehicles that can support NextGen.
Science - The Science Mission Directorate (SMD) sponsors scientific research and develops and deploys satellites and probes in collaboration with NASA’s partners around the world to answer fundamental questions about the Earth and space. SMD seeks to understand the origins, evolution and destiny of the universe and to understand the nature of the strange phenomena that shape it. SMD also seeks to understand the nature of life in the universe and what kinds of life may exist beyond Earth; the solar system, both scientifically and in preparation for human exploration; and the Sun and Earth, changes in the Earth-Sun system, and the consequences of the Earth-Sun relationship for life on Earth.
Space Operations provides technologies for much of the rest of NASA through the space shuttle, the International Space Station and flight support. The Space Operations Mission Directorate also oversees requirements for development, policy and programmatic oversight. The directorate is similarly responsible for agency leadership and management of NASA space operations related to Launch Services, Space Transportation and Space Communications in support of both human and robotic exploration programs.
NASA Image Gallery
NASA spent nearly $80.7 billion on 29,727 contractors this decade. According to USASpending.gov, NASA paid for a variety of services, from engineering and technical services to basic research, to support its goals.
The top contractors include the nation’s largest defense contractors and aerospace companies, including:
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California Institute of Technology
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$18,062,443,259
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Lockheed Martin
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$7,100,647,320
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Boeing
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$5,207,259,164
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United Space Alliance
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$4,643,530,127
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Alliant Techsystems, Inc.
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$2,005,306,297
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SAIC, Inc.
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$1,686,022,348
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Northrup Grumman
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$1,622,595,268
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Jacobs Engineering Group, Inc.
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$1,487,224,475
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Raytheon Company
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$1,394,295,494
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The California Institute of Technology (CalTech) provides various research & development services for NASA, including the
Deep Space Network
and the
Mars Science Laboratory
. The Deep Space Network networks communication facilities supporting interplanetary spacecraft missions, radio and radar astronomy observations and exploration of the solar system. The
Jet Propulsion Laboratory
, a research center responsible for building and operating unmanned spacecraft, is fully staffed and supported by NASA.
NASA Studies Deliberately Minimize the Effects of Global Warming
According to a report recently released by NASA, political appointees in NASA’s press office “marginalized, or mischaracterized” studies on global warming between 2004 and 2006. NASA’s Inspector General called the distortions “inappropriate political interference” and “found no credible evidence suggesting that senior NASA or administration officials directed the NASA Headquarters Office of Public Affairs to minimize information relating to climate change.” Scientists involved with climate change research believe the actions taken by the NASA Office of Pubic Affairs came at the expense of understanding unfiltered research findings and the benefit of public scientific debate.
NASA Contractor Sabotages Endeavor Launch Box
On July 26, 2007, NASA confirmed that at least one space program worker intentionally tried to sabotage a computer that was due to be flown on the shuttle Endeavour. The worker allegedly cut wires inside a data relay box that was to be added to the space station’s Destiny Laboratory. The data box was designed to be like the space station’s backbone, assisting in the transmission of data back to the United States. Endeavour was launched on March 11, 2008, and retuned safely after a 16-day mission to the International Space Station.
Interviews Reveal NASA Allowed Astronauts to Fly Drunk
In July 2007, independent investigation panels revealed that their research had uncovered a pattern of NASA allowing astronauts to fly missions while visibly under the influence of alcohol. According to flight surgeons and astronauts, crew members preparing to fly raised questions about efficacy, mental health issues and overall leadership. One impaired astronaut was launched aboard a Russian Soyuz aircraft while another involved a scrubbed space shuttle flight.
NASA Knew About Preflight Drinking Among Astronauts
(by Marc Kaufman, Washington Post)
Back to the Future with Moon Mission
Following the loss of the Space Shuttle Columbia in 2003, officials within the Bush administration embarked on a lengthy discussion over what to do with the three-decade old program. The conclusion was to retire the space shuttle following the completion of the International Space Station (set for 2010) and focus NASA again on manned missions to the moon and beyond. President George W. Bush declaration in January 2004 to send astronauts to the moon had first been urged by the president’s father, George H. W. Bush in 1989. That effort was quickly scrubbed once lawmakers and others got wind of the cost - upwards of $400 billion (based on 1980s dollars). Concerns over financing a return to the Moon have surfaced along with other criticisms
For
Along with the President, some members of Congress have expressed support for NASA’s new mission. As Bush put it, in the past 30 years, no human being has set foot on another world or ventured farther up into space than 386 miles (the distance that space shuttles travel), making it time for man to return to planetary explorations. Citing the Lewis and Clark expedition two centuries ago, Bush said it is part of our character to explore the furthest reaches of space.
Supporters believe returning to the Moon, which would set the stage for an eventual manned trip to Mars, will be easier this time than with the Apollo missions of the 1960s because there won’t be a need to “reinvent the wheel.” The plan calls for developing new launch and lander vehicles modeled after those used in the Apollo program, only more modern. The mission can be accomplished, supporters say, by 2020 and without breaking the bank. The Bush administration has already bolstered NASA’s budget to begin research-and-development, and once the shuttle program is retired, that will free up even more money for the Moon mission.
Against
Some lawmakers are skeptical about whether sending astronauts to the Moon can be accomplished without substantially more money than the $12 billion over five years that would be devoted initially to the exploration program. They have accused the President of not being upfront about the true costs of creating the new vehicles that will carry and land men and women on the moon.
Furthermore, some former NASA employees have questioned the scientific validity of returning to the Moon. If the goal is to ultimately reach Mars, then NASA should focus on landing astronauts on an asteroid instead, says a group of former mission managers, planetary scientists and astronauts.
Other critics have argued that NASA shouldn’t be involved in the development of the new spacecraft for the mission. Instead, the agency should fund research into new designs but allow commercial companies to take over the building and launching of the next missions to the Moon.
Dissent Grows as Scientists Oppose NASA’s New Moon Mission
(by Joe Pappalardo, Popular Mechanics)
Michael J. Coppi - 7/21/2009 7:11:38 PM
Man on Mars by 2019 using 3 Shuttles
To Reduce Program Costs
MODIFY THE SPACE SHUTTLES FOR A MANNED MISSION TO MARS
Before planned 2011 Retiring of the STS Fleet
Send 3 Shuttles to Mars
OUTLINE SYNOPSIS:
A. Discovery to Mars - Atmospheric Penetration, Landing, Return-to-Orbit Module
B. Atlantis to Mars Orbit - Docks with + Returns Excursion Crew to Earth
C. Endeavour Accompanies as Contingency Rescue - Backup of All Elements
As a former Aerospace Engineer with the Space Transportation System, I envision that the U.S. can complete a manned Mars mission (landing/return) within ten years. Such could also be accomplished on a much lower budget (in relation to a 100% newly designed program), by using existing hardware (the 3 Space Shuttles as primary components [+ some new equipment]) and including backup systems to ensure mission success.
.........
Why relegate retired Space Shuttles to eternity in a museum? The 3 Orbiters can be modified to serve as the backbone of a manned explorative journey of Mars - an STS Finale. Enterprise is already at the Smithsonian, the remainder of the fleet is spaceworthy, and that's exactly where the shuttles should spend their final days: IN SPACE.
by Michael J. Coppi, X711mjc@cs.com, 01/05/09
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Founded: 1958
Annual Budget: $17.3 billion
Employees: 17,900
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National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)
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Bolden, Charles
Administrator
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President Obama chose a former astronaut and Marine Corps aviator with strong ties to the defense industry to lead NASA in its transition from the Space Shuttle era to the next phase of space exploration. Born in the Jim Crow South, retired Marine Corps Major General Charles F. Bolden, Jr., faced questions about his ties to the aerospace and defense industries, but was confirmed as NASA’s first permanent African American Administrator on July 15, 2009.
Born August 19, 1946, in Columbia, South Carolina, Bolden graduated in 1964 from C. A. Johnson High School in Columbia, where his father was the head football coach. He earned a BS in Electrical Science from the U. S. Naval Academy in 1968, and an MS in Systems Management from the University of Southern California in 1977.
Upon graduation from the Naval Academy, Bolden accepted a commission as a Second Lieutenant in the U.S. Marine Corps. After two years of flight training, he was designated a naval aviator in May 1970. He flew more than 100 sorties into North and South Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia, in the A-6A Intruder between June 1972 and June 1973. Upon returning to the United States, Bolden began a two-year tour as a Marine Corps selection officer and recruiting officer in Los Angeles, followed by three years at the Marine Corps Air Station El Toro, California. In June 1979, he graduated from the U.S. Naval Test Pilot School at Patuxent River, Maryland, and subsequently served as an ordnance test pilot and flew numerous test projects in the A-6E, EA-6B, and A-7C/E airplanes. As a pilot, he has logged more than 6,000 hours flying time.
Bolden was selected as an astronaut candidate by NASA in 1980, and became an astronaut in August 1981. A veteran of four space flights, he has logged more than 680 hours in space, including 444 orbits of the earth. Bolden served as pilot on STS-61C (Space Shuttle Columbia, January 12–18, 1986) and STS-31 (Space Shuttle Discovery, April 24–29, 1990), and was the mission commander on STS-45 (Space Shuttle Atlantis, March 24, 1992 – April 2, 1992), and STS-60 (Space Shuttle Discovery, February 3–11, 1994). During his first Discovery mission, Bolden and his colleagues successfully deployed the Hubble Space Telescope while orbiting the earth from a record setting altitude of 400 miles. The second Discovery mission was the historic first joint U.S./Russian Space Shuttle mission with a Russian Cosmonaut as a crew member. Bolden also held two administrative posts at NASA during these years. Following the Challenger accident in 1986, he was named the chief of the safety division at the Johnson Space Center, overseeing safety initiatives in the return-to-flight effort. From April 1992 to June 1993, Bolden served as Assistant Deputy Administrator for NASA.
Bolden left NASA in 1994 to return to the Marine Corps as the Deputy Commandant of Midshipmen at the Naval Academy. In July 1997, he was assigned as the Deputy Commanding General of Marine Forces in the Pacific. From February to June 1998, he served as Commanding General in support of Operation Desert Thunder in Kuwait. In July 1998 he was promoted to his final rank of Major General and assumed his duties as the Deputy Commander, U.S. Forces, Japan. Bolden then served as the Commanding General, 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing, from August 2000 until August 2002. In February 2002, President Bush tried to appoint Bolden as NASA Deputy Administrator, but his appointment was shot down because federal law prevents an active duty military officer being appointed to the position. Although Bolden was apparently willing to resign his commission, Bush withdrew the nomination in jess than six weeks later. Bolden retired from the Marine Corps in January 2003.
Following retirement, Bolden became active in the corporate sector. Since 2004, he has been the owner and CEO of JackandPanther LLC, a privately-held military and aerospace consulting firm in Houston, Texas. He also serves on the corporate boards of Marathon Oil (2003-2009), helicopter services provider Bristow Group, Inc., and BlueCross BlueShield of South Carolina. He was Senior VP of TechTrans International, which provides Russian translation, interpretation, language training and logistics services to NASA, from 2003 to 2005; President and Chief Operating Officer of American PureTex Water Corporation, a lobbyist for Alliant Techsystems in 2005; and served on the corporate board of GenCorp, an aerospace and defense contractor. He also serves on the NASA Aerospace Safety Advisory Panel, the board of the Military Child Education Coalition, a private nonprofit focused on supporting educational opportunities for the children of military families, and the Board of Trustees of the University of Southern California.
Because several of the companies with which he has been affiliated, including Alliant Techsystems, Bristow Group, TechTrans and GenCorp, have large contracts with NASA, Bolden is expected to face questioning regarding potential conflicts of interest arising from those lucrative relationships. Nevertheless, he is expected to win confirmation with ease. He will be granted a limited waiver to the administration’s ethics policy that states appointees cannot take part in matters “directly and substantially related” to their former employers for two years, and will have to recuse himself from matters directly related to his former employers.
Bolden and his wife, Alexis (Jackie), née Walker, of Columbia, South Carolina, have two children and three grandchildren. Bolden was part of Obama for America. According to the website opensecrets.org, Bolden has made only two political campaign contributions, $1,000 to Democrat Jim Webb’s Senate campaign in 2006, and $250 to Barack Obama’s Presidential campaign in 2008.
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Griffin, Michael
Previous Administrator
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Michael Griffin served as the Administrator of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration from April 14, 2005, until the day President George W. Bush left office on January 20, 2009.
Griffin received a bachelor’s degree in physics from Johns Hopkins University; a master’s degree in aerospace science from Catholic University of America; a PhD in aerospace engineering from the University of Maryland; a master’s degree in electrical engineering from the University of Southern California; a master’s degree in applied physics from Johns Hopkins University; a master’s degree in business administration from Loyola College; and a master’s degree in civil engineering from George Washington University. He is a certified flight instructor with instrument and multiengine ratings.
Earlier in his career, Griffin served as chief engineer and as associate administrator for exploration at NASA and as deputy for technology at the Strategic Defense Initiative Organization. He has been an adjunct professor at the University of Maryland, Johns Hopkins University, and George Washington University, where he taught courses in spacecraft design, applied mathematics, guidance and navigation, compressible flow, computational fluid dynamics, spacecraft attitude control, astrodynamics and introductory aerospace engineering.
Griffin served in several positions within Orbital Sciences Corporation in Dulles, VA, including chief executive officer of Orbital’s Magellan Systems division and general manager of the Space Systems Group. He then moved onto In-Q-Tel, Inc. where he served as president and CEO. Prior to being nominated as NASA administrator, Griffin was serving as Space Department head at Johns Hopkins University’s Applied Physics Laboratory in Laurel, MD.
Griffin is the lead author of more than two dozen technical papers, as well as the textbook, Space Vehicle Design. A registered professional engineer in Maryland and California, Griffin is a member of the National Academy of Engineering and the International Academy of Astronautics, an honorary fellow of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA), a fellow of the American Astronautical Society and a senior member of the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers. Griffin has not been afraid to make outspoken remarks about NASA programs and other scientific endeavors. In 2005 he told the editorial board of USA Today that the entire space shuttle program was a “mistake” and that the US was better off going in a new direction with space exploration. Two years later, he seemed to downplay the significance of global warming when he remarked, “A trend of global warming exists,” but “I am not sure that it is fair to say that it is a problem we must wrestle with.”
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