thedrifter
07-16-09, 07:53 AM
July 16, 2009
Former astronaut Charles Bolden made new Nasa chief
Hannah Devlin
A former astronaut and Marines general has been confirmed as the new administrator of Nasa.
Charles Bolden was voted in unanimously by the US State Senate yesterday, making him the first African American to head the US space agency.
The announcement came shortly after the successful launch of the space shuttle Endeavour to the International Space Station after five abandoned attempts in a month. It also coincides with the fortieth anniversary of the Apollo 11 Moon landing on July 20.
Mr Bolden, 62, became a Nasa astronaut in 1980. He took part in four space shuttle missions between 1986 and 1994, and commanded two of them. His flights included deployment of the Hubble Space Telescope aboard Discovery in 1990, and a historic first joint US-Russian shuttle mission in 1994.
Mr Bolden told senators last week that if the US wished to maintain its world lead in space technology it must strive to inspire children to contribute to science and engineering and that Nasa would need to step up its role in researching and monitoring the Earth’s environment.
“Either we can invest in building upon our hard-earned world technological leadership or we can abandon this commitment, ceding it to others who are working vigilantly to push the frontiers of space," he said during a hearing on July 8.
Lori Garver, 48, was confirmed as Nasa’s deputy administrator. Ms Garver served as an associate administrator from 1998 to 2001 and was the lead civil space policy advisor for Barack Obama’s presidential campaign.
Ellie
Former astronaut Charles Bolden made new Nasa chief
Hannah Devlin
A former astronaut and Marines general has been confirmed as the new administrator of Nasa.
Charles Bolden was voted in unanimously by the US State Senate yesterday, making him the first African American to head the US space agency.
The announcement came shortly after the successful launch of the space shuttle Endeavour to the International Space Station after five abandoned attempts in a month. It also coincides with the fortieth anniversary of the Apollo 11 Moon landing on July 20.
Mr Bolden, 62, became a Nasa astronaut in 1980. He took part in four space shuttle missions between 1986 and 1994, and commanded two of them. His flights included deployment of the Hubble Space Telescope aboard Discovery in 1990, and a historic first joint US-Russian shuttle mission in 1994.
Mr Bolden told senators last week that if the US wished to maintain its world lead in space technology it must strive to inspire children to contribute to science and engineering and that Nasa would need to step up its role in researching and monitoring the Earth’s environment.
“Either we can invest in building upon our hard-earned world technological leadership or we can abandon this commitment, ceding it to others who are working vigilantly to push the frontiers of space," he said during a hearing on July 8.
Lori Garver, 48, was confirmed as Nasa’s deputy administrator. Ms Garver served as an associate administrator from 1998 to 2001 and was the lead civil space policy advisor for Barack Obama’s presidential campaign.
Ellie