A Spacereview article on the Administration's review of human spaceflight. Its conclusion is good or bad, depending on your point of view re. NASA.

Bob Park gets his wish: "It's time for another Augustine Report"

(My bold)

I've mirrored this in Damburger's Ares V thread.

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Sounds good to me, as long as we start up a new agency responsible for space infrastructure and access but not science.

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"What you think you thought you saw you did not see." Agent J, MiB - Manhatten Bureau

MSNBC: Former astronaut likely to be new NASA chief

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I gotta say, looking over his Wiki entry, that I'm impressed with the guy's resume. A Marine, combat pilot, and he's flown on the shuttle four times. With that kind of a background, it seems unlikely we'll see a dramatic scaling back of manned spaceflight.

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We want our children to go to the planets. Burt Rutan 6/21/04 K.I.L.L. S.M.U.R.F.S.
Tuckers! Automotive Oddities! Building my hot rod with the help of the intarwebs Those who would delay scientific progress for a little temporary prosperity shall have neither. MachineCast Save the planet, by leaving it! "To be second in space is to be second in everything," LBJ.

Except that NASA administrators don't decide agency policy, they implement administration policy.

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Iyam what Iyam

How many Marines have you dealt with? If he's not happy with the direction Obama wants to take NASA, he will speak up about it. He'll do it in private, he'll do it politely, but he will get his point across, and he'll be Obama's equal in intelligence. I have a feeling that if Obama wants to gut the manned program, Maj. Gen. Bolden will raise one heckuva ruckus, resigning in protest if he thinks that will help (and I seriously doubt that he'd even take the job before finding out exactly what Obama wants to do with NASA).

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We want our children to go to the planets. Burt Rutan 6/21/04 K.I.L.L. S.M.U.R.F.S.
Tuckers! Automotive Oddities! Building my hot rod with the help of the intarwebs Those who would delay scientific progress for a little temporary prosperity shall have neither. MachineCast Save the planet, by leaving it! "To be second in space is to be second in everything," LBJ.

Actually, I was a career military officer (Army, not Marines) and I have quite a bit of experience in dealing with other military officers of all service branches. Above and beyond personal druthers with regards to what he personally feels would be the best direction for the space program, a career military man is goiing to follow the orders of, and accomplish the mission given to him by the commander in chief.

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Iyam what Iyam

And in a case where he disagrees with those orders, he'll most likely resign. The man left NASA and returned to the Marines, like the original Mercury astronauts, he's got combat experience, which means that he's not likely to be a "political" general (though he's no doubt got measurable skills in that area as well).

Obama stated in the past that he wanted to see NASA return to being the inspirational agency he remembered from childhood. Picking a director who comes from a similar background as the original astronauts as well as having been in space fits within that statement of Obama's much better than a "bean counter" who could be expected to keep costs low (see the years when Goldin was in charge and the mantra was "better, faster, cheaper").

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We want our children to go to the planets. Burt Rutan 6/21/04 K.I.L.L. S.M.U.R.F.S.
Tuckers! Automotive Oddities! Building my hot rod with the help of the intarwebs Those who would delay scientific progress for a little temporary prosperity shall have neither. MachineCast Save the planet, by leaving it! "To be second in space is to be second in everything," LBJ.

I agree with Tuckerfan, Bolden is pro manned spaceflight and I don't think he would have accepted a job that goes against his beliefs. I would much rather have a former astronaut than a bean counter any day.

Well, we shall see. The only issue that concerns me, is the quoted statement (which is all too familiar and unwelcome among manned flight advocates)You may be right in that he would resign or refuse to take the position, but then choosing an astronaut to place manned spaceflight on a back burner is a pretty politically shrewd move. Especially if phrased right. Its real easy to put a lot of people off the scent if things are characterized as "revisiting the shuttle replacement issue," "rescheduling the manned lunar return issue in light of current national economic concerns," etc.,. I mean even if the intent were to totally kill all manned space flight, it is doubtful that any president would couch such in those terms.

From my read of this administration so far, and their approach to science, and space issues in particular, they're looking for splashy headlines with the minimal amount of expended effort or real investment. probably something along the lines of a scaled back Orion with all or most of the beyond LEO capability and functionality stripped out leaving it basically a taxi to ISS. Simultaneously they may announce a new round of paper studies for a more robust Shuttle replacement. Regardless, at least they are, hopefully, about to put a face on NASA, and we shall know soon enough if that is good or bad.

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Iyam what Iyam

Would this be the first time NASA would have an administrator with actual spaceflight experience?

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I want to go back to the moon.
I don't care which rocket you use, whichever one you pick, I'll like it, I swear.
"If you think the LHC will create black holes, you might as well believe Hobbits are at the bottom of your garden."- Dr. Mike Inglis
Rovers forever! - ToSeek

Acting Administrator Frederick_D._Gregory

I don't see other candidates in the List of Administrators.

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May I introduce Dick Truly?

*Knocks head into wall*

Why do I stink at research?

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I want to go back to the moon.
I don't care which rocket you use, whichever one you pick, I'll like it, I swear.
"If you think the LHC will create black holes, you might as well believe Hobbits are at the bottom of your garden."- Dr. Mike Inglis
Rovers forever! - ToSeek

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We want our children to go to the planets. Burt Rutan 6/21/04 K.I.L.L. S.M.U.R.F.S.
Tuckers! Automotive Oddities! Building my hot rod with the help of the intarwebs Those who would delay scientific progress for a little temporary prosperity shall have neither. MachineCast Save the planet, by leaving it! "To be second in space is to be second in everything," LBJ.

Except that if Bolden is a NASA Administrator, Obama isn't his commander-in-chief.

CJSF

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Two years ago moved from my town
I was looking up past the city lights
But the city lights got in my way

See the constellation ride across the sky
No cigar, no lady on his arm
Just a guy made of dots and lines

-from "See The Constellation"
by They Might Be Giants

We were discussing career military mindsets, and my comments were made in response to the suggestion that as a career Marine officer, the nominated NASA chief wouldn't let Obama tell him what to do and wouldn't follow a course he didn't believe in.

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Iyam what Iyam

People refer to the President as their commander-in-chief all the time, even if they've never been in the military at all.

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I want to go back to the moon.
I don't care which rocket you use, whichever one you pick, I'll like it, I swear.
"If you think the LHC will create black holes, you might as well believe Hobbits are at the bottom of your garden."- Dr. Mike Inglis
Rovers forever! - ToSeek

Kai, the president is not the "people's" commander-in-chief. He is the Commander-in-Chief of the US armed forces. If one refers to him as everyone's commander-in-chief, they are in error. He IS the "people's" chief executive, but that is a very different thing.

I understand your statement, Trakar, I just respectfully disagree. Obama should have no authority over NASA Adminstrator Bolden as a commander-in-chief of the armed forces. If he were made administrator of some military space agency, then it would be a different matter.

CJSF

__________________
Two years ago moved from my town
I was looking up past the city lights
But the city lights got in my way

See the constellation ride across the sky
No cigar, no lady on his arm
Just a guy made of dots and lines

-from "See The Constellation"
by They Might Be Giants

I wasn't saying that it was correct to refer to the President as the people's commander-in-chief, just that non-military people sometimes do, even though it is erroneous to say so.

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I want to go back to the moon.
I don't care which rocket you use, whichever one you pick, I'll like it, I swear.
"If you think the LHC will create black holes, you might as well believe Hobbits are at the bottom of your garden."- Dr. Mike Inglis
Rovers forever! - ToSeek

Understood...carry on.



CJSF

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Two years ago moved from my town
I was looking up past the city lights
But the city lights got in my way

See the constellation ride across the sky
No cigar, no lady on his arm
Just a guy made of dots and lines

-from "See The Constellation"
by They Might Be Giants

Though the majority of NASA is composed of current and ex-military personnel and it has a military priority, special relationship with the DoD, its status as a prima facie "civilian" space agency is completely irrespective of the nature of the discussion or statements made.

IOW, I understand (and generally agree with) your statement, it merely has no bearing in the discussion in which my statements were made.

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Iyam what Iyam