Bolden takes control of NASA

The US Senate has easily confirmed former astronaut Charles Frank Bolden as the new NASA administrator, along with Lori Beth Garver as his deputy.

Bolden, a former Marine Corp pilot, flew in the space shuttle four times between 1986 and 1994 (STS-61C , STS-31 , STS-45 , and STS-60 ), which included the 1990 deployment of the Hubble Space Telescope .

Bolden said in a press release , “It is an honor to have been nominated by President Obama and confirmed by the Senate to lead this great NASA team. Today, we have to choose. Either we can invest in building on our hard-earned world technological leadership or we can abandon this commitment, ceding it to other nations who are working diligently to push the frontiers of space.”

He continued: “If we choose to lead, we must build on our investment in the International Space Station, accelerate development of our next generation launch systems to enable expansion of human exploration, enhance NASA’s capability to study Earth’s environment, lead space science to new achievements, continue cutting-edge aeronautics research, support the innovation of American entrepreneurs, and inspire a rising generation of boys and girls to seek careers in science, technology, engineering and math.”

The theme was highlighted in his confirmation hearings when Bolden emphasized that NASA needed to re-ignite public interest in the space program, particularly among children. “If I go to a classroom today, it’s different from when I went as an astronaut in 1980,” he told members of the US Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation.

“I could ask, ‘How many of you want to be an astronaut?’ Every hand went up in the class. When I go to a school today and ask that question, I may see three hands. All of them want to go into business."Bolden will have a number of critical issues to manage at NASA. The space shuttle is scheduled to be retired next year and the White House is reviewing plans for its replacement .

Paul Guinnessy