[Cincinatus' Wife]

U.S Air Force and NASA Work Closer on Strategic Space Control--Changing the nature of the American space program--

[Diogenesis]

Great. A chance for serious American ingenuity, security, and engineering in space.

[Cincinatus]

NASA Administrator Daniel S. Goldin, the agency's longest serving administrator, is expected to announce his resignation today at 2 p.m

Hallelujah!

[blam]

Heads up.

[DoughtyOne]

Thank you, thank you, thank you,  thank you, thank you,  thank you, thank you,  thank you, thank you,  thank you, thank you,  thank you, thank you,  thank you, thank you,  thank you, thank you,  thank you, thank you,  thank you, thank you,  thank you, thank you,  thank you, thank you,  thank you, thank you,  thank you, thank you,  thank you, thank you,  thank you, thank you,  thank you, thank you,  thank you, thank you,  thank you, thank you,  thank you, thank you,  thank you, thank you,  thank you, thank you,  thank you, thank you,  thank you, thank you,  thank you, thank you,  thank you, thank you,  thank you, thank you,  thank you, thank you,  thank you, thank you,  thank you, thank you,  thank you, thank you,  thank you, thank you,  thank you, thank you,  thank you, thank you,  thank you, thank you,  thank you, thank you,  thank you, thank you,  thank you, thank you,  thank you, thank you,  thank you, thank you,  thank you, thank you,  thank you, thank you,  thank you, thank you,  thank you, thank you,  thank you, thank you,  thank you, thank you,  thank you, thank you and thank you!

[Octavius]

Bout time! Now, we need to rid ourselves of about 10 more directors and deputies.
OPEN UP ALL GOVERNMENT LEADRESHIP POSITION TO IMEDIATE COMPETITION!

[mrsmith]

He'll fit right in, diverting government tech-development money to liberal hokum.

"The Council on Competitiveness has received a $2.3 million grant to support the establishment of BEST, a new nonprofit organization designed to turn around the critical shortage of women and minorities in the high technology workforce, U.S. Representatives Connie Morella (R-MD) and Eddie Bernice Johnson (D-TX) announced today (April 5).
The National Science Foundation awarded the grant, which includes funds from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, the National Institutes of Health, and the U. S. Departments of Agriculture, Commerce-NIST, Defense, and Energy.... "

Good riddance.

[dead]

In addition to sending John Glenn into space as a political payoff for covering up Clinton’s treasonous China dealings, this idiot Goldin also happily wastes our tax dollars on any idiotic political correct cause that crosses his desk. Check out this dopey “Space is for women too” website, and it’s “Herstory” of space exploration. Ugggh.:

There’s Space in My Life

Aren’t you happy that part of your salary today will go towards this Oprahesque crapola?

[browardchad]

Quite a few heads will be rolling in this crisis -- at least the housecleaning process will be accelerated through all this.

[Brett66]

Great news! Hopefully the next administrator will have a less adversarial attitude towards space tourism. Other than that there's not much NASA can do to assist in the development of space.

[cactusSharp]

Daniel Goldin...just another good Irish boy tight ?

[RightWhale]

EXCELLENT!!!

[Cicero]

Good news. According to a friend of mine who does contract work for NASA, all the scientists he knows in the organization think that Goldin is a complete incompetent.

[Moonman62]

Fron Spaceflight Now:

NASA Administrator Daniel Goldin, who forced the agency to adopt a "faster, better, cheaper" approach to deep space exploration and oversaw initial assembly of the international space station, is stepping down amid space station cost overruns that threaten the future of the agency's showcase space program.

Sources said Goldin will announce his resignation, effective Nov. 17, at 2 p.m. today in an agency wide address on NASA television. It is not yet known who will replace him, but insiders say Courtney A. Stadd, NASA's chief of staff and a Bush administration appointee, likely will take over day-to-day operations.

Goldin's resignation comes one day after NASA's associate administrator for space flight, Joseph Rothenberg, announced his retirement, effective Dec. 15. Again, no replacement has been named. But the "AA for spaceflight" is responsible for all space shuttle and space station operations at NASA headquarters.

The departures come amid a mounting crisis at NASA over space station funding and accountability that threaten the project's very survival.

Earlier this summer, NASA managers said the station program was expected to suffer a $5 billion overrun over the next four to five years. With little support from the Bush administration or Congress to provide additional funding, NASA managers decided to forego building a crew habitation module and an emergency return vehicle capable of seating six to seven astronauts.

As a result, the station can support just three full-time crew members - that's all the current Russian-built Soyuz lifeboats can accommodate. But three crew members cannot carry out the kind of world class research the lab is being built for. Instead, current three-man crews spend most of their time simply operating, outfitting and maintaining the station.

In the wake of the cost overrun revelations, Goldin appointed a committee of outside experts to review NASA's management and accounting. The Cost Evaluation Task Force is expected to release its findings in about a month. NASA managers who have been grilled by the task force in recent weeks expect the worst, saying the panel's final report will be devastating.

Asked if America's manned space program might be in real jeopardy, one senior manager said "absolutely. I don't think there's anybody who will defend us."

While NASA managers defend the agency's actions and point out that many of the station changes that drove up costs were mandated by Congress or the White House Office of Management and Budget, outsiders are quick to lay the blame squarely at NASA's feet.

"Many folks are still clinging to the hope they will get bailed out," a government official told the Florida Today newspaper. "The station, but also human spaceflight's future hangs in the balance - and the future of 'beyond Earth orbit' - unless this business is done differently. They won't have the credibility to be trusted with something like that from the administration or the Congress."

Against this backdrop, shuttle program manager Ronald Dittemore is quietly overseeing a wide-ranging effort to refine a plan to possibly turn over operation of NASA's fleet of four space shuttles to a private contractor.

The goal, sources say, is to develop a government-owned, contractor-operated system that could safely - and more efficiently - operate the shuttle for the next 15 to 20 years. The program's current government management and prime contractor structure is resulting in a steady erosion of NASA skill and experience in key positions. And that, supporters of privatization claim, is eroding flight safety.

Among the options being explored as part of the privatization effort are corporate astronauts, flight directors and even overall mission management. If implemented, such a shuttle privatization plan would mark a major shift in the way the nation's space program is carried out.

While shuttle privatization may or may not move forward, the station crisis is real and the departures of both the NASA administrator and the agency's associate administrator for space flight are clear signs that rough weather is ahead.

[RikaStrom]

Goldin has been NASA's administrator since April 1992 and is credited with pushing the agency to streamline its operations with an approach that became known as "better, faster, cheaper."

Good riddance, and it should be...."Politically Expensive, PC slowndown, Feel-Good moral killer"

[Cincinatus]

B

U

M

P!

[Cincinatus]

Rumor control

17 October 2001: Bush-appointed team polled for New NASA Adminstrator

Editor's note: word has it that an ad hoc committee assembled by the Bush Administration was asked to cast votes by noon today for their choice for the next NASA Administrator. General Moorman is among the finalists. President Bush himself will reportedly make the final decision. No word yet on how the voting went - or when an announcement date will be made. Given the fact that the Administration has been shy (up until now) about having Goldin depart without an heir apparent, it would be expected that the new Administrator would be announced well before Goldin's announced departure date. More to follow.

15 October 2001: New NASA Administrator Rumors

Editor's note: Once again rumors are circulating that the White House has found a candidate. One name that is making the rounds (again) is that of Retired Gen. Thomas Moorman. Moorman is former USAF Vice Chief of Staff, now working as a Vice President with Booz-Allen in McLean, VA. Some people refer to Moorman as "the father of the EELV".

from today's NASAWatch

[No Truce With Kings]

Ding! Dong! the Witch is dead! Witch is dead! Witch is dead!
Ding! Dong! the Witch is dead! Hooray!