MAIN ARTICLE: Has Obama ended the fight over a new NASA Chief?
A new NASA Administrator may be named by President Obama. Former Astronaut Charles Bolden will see the President on Monday.
Poll Results: Yesterday's poll had a lower then average turnout
Star Trek: In the News. ‘Star Trek’ launches Chris Pine to stardom.
Yesterday's Comments: "Will the astronauts be driving that thing in their stocking feet too?" - MnplsLiberal
Today's Poll: Is Bolden the best pick for NASA Administrator?
Former astronaut likely to be new NASA chief
Official: Major General Charles F. Bolden to meet with president on Monday
"Former astronaut Charles F. Bolden Jr. will meet with President Obama in the Oval Office on Monday morning and likely will be appointed the new NASA administrator, a senior administration official told NBC News on Thursday.
If he is chosen as expected, Bolden, a veteran of four spaceflights with more than 680 hours in Earth orbit, would be the first African-American appointed to NASA's top post. Bolden retired from the Marine Corps in 2003 as a major general.
Bolden was born in segregation in South Carolina but his grades earned him an appointment to the U.S. Naval Academy at Annapolis. There, Bolden was elected president of his class before earning his Naval Aviator wings and becoming one of America's outstanding fighter and test pilots as well as an astronaut."
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WHAT NEXT FOR SPACE:
It was rumored that the holdup for appointing a NASA Administrator was Senator Bill Nelson (D-FL), who wanted to see Bolden named, it looks like he got his wish. It was covered here on the DKOS (see "Senator Bill Nelson, be a statesman", Ferris Valyn, Mar 18, 2009) earlier this year.
"There is much speculation and hope that President Obama will be nominating a NASA administrator soon. However, a recent report by the Orlando Sentinel has me concerned, and many in the space industry, up in arms, over the fact a group of Senators quashed one of the choices who is well respected in the industry. Below is a letter I sent to Senator Nelson"
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Everything I knew about Bolden was covered in (see "NASA: Griffin out Boldin in?", 'Americans in Space', Jan 07, 2009) a previoous article. But this statement stood out, it relates to funding NASA:
"NASA Budget and Programs: Outside Perspectives"
"At this time some of us are beginning to understand fully the statement credited to the late Dr. Bob Gilruth, director of the Johnson Space Center in what may be called the golden age of human space flight, when he said "People will realize how difficult it was to go to the Moon when we try to return." While we have a pretty good grasp on the technology to accomplish this mission, I'm not certain we have the national will power or determination. I do not mean to insult anyone's intelligence today, but I do wish to remind all of us that exploration of any sort is risky, expensive, and unpredictable. While we may be able to continue many of the science and exploration programs on which we have been embarked over the past forty plus years, we cannot do them on the cheap and we cannot do them in series. Human exploration and science experimentation and research are necessarily parallel endeavors that are mutually supportive if we are to realize success in either."
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The poll that was ran with the article was:
Who should be the new Administrator of NASA?
72% Charles Bolden
03% Scott Hubbard
03% Wesley Huntress
13% Sally Ride
06% Alan Stern
American Astronauts to Visit China.
"NASA astronauts Charles Bolden and Mae Jemison will join Apollo 16 Moonwalker Charlie Duke from 19 July to 3 August in a non-government trip to the 'Middle Country,' Chinese Society of Astronautics (logo pictured above) Deputy Director Yang Junhua announced Thursday. The three astronauts will visit China's space research and development institutes, including those that develop the nation's spaceships, satellites and carrier rockets. In Beijing, the astronauts will take part in an international youth meeting of astronauts and address the country's major astronautics universities, possibly meeting with their China counterparts. They will also tour the Three Gorges on the Yangtze River, the world's third longest river. The trip is sponsored by DuPont, which has contributed to space exploration for the past half-century, including materials on Apollo spacesuits and electronics for the Mars Spirit and Opportunity rovers. Corporate Vice President Thomas Powell says sponsorship of the visit is a natural fit with the company, which operates in 70 countries worldwide. The visit should help to advance China-American international space / lunar cooperation." - Lunar Enterprise Daily
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The Mars Society did a 60 second interview with Mister Bolden last December:
Bolden Interview
"Major General Charles Bolden spent 30 years in the US Marine Corps, serving in Vietnam and as a test pilot. He went on four space flights for Nasa, twice as mission commander. He now encourages students to pursue science as a career and is talking at a conference at the Royal Aeronautical Society on January 22, co-sponsored by Metro. See www.isset.org
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BOLDEN ON EDUCATION:
What will you do at the Royal Aeronautical Society conference?
"I'm trying to get people interested in science. Most kids in the US want to go into business now at university, rather than the sciences. They think that's the way to make lots of money. It's important to foster an interest in science among younger people by telling them not to fear failure: some people find the subject intimidating. I use the examples of the Apollo fire, the loss of Challenger in 1986 and then Columbia in 2003. Those were huge failures in the United States space programme but we refused to accept that as defeat and worked out how to avoid future mistakes."
Bolden has been involved in education several times in the past and has consistantly pushed for more math and science in American schools.
Biography
"Major General Charles Frank "Charlie" Bolden, Jr., USMC (retired), (born August 19, 1946 in Columbia, South Carolina) is a retired U.S. Marine Corps officer who served from 1981 to 1994 as an astronaut in the United States' space program. A 1968 graduate of the United States Naval Academy (USNA), he became a Marine Aviator and test pilot. After his service with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, he became Deputy Commandant of Midshipmen at the USNA. Bolden is the virtual host of the Shuttle Launch Experience attraction at Kennedy Space Center." - wiki
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"From April, 2003 to January, 2005 Mr. Bolden served as senior vice president of TechTrans International, Inc., a women-owned language services company serving the National Aeronautics and Space Administration and other government and commercial entities doing business in Russia and the former Soviet Republics, with offices in Houston, TX, Washington, DC, and Moscow, Russia. He presently serves on the Board of Directors of Marathon Oil Corporation, GENCORP, and Palmetto Government Benefits Associates as well as the Board of Trustees of the University of Southern California." - Bolden Bio
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POLL RESULTS:
The poll yesterday: "Do you think a Zero-G sports stadium, in space, could pay the bills.", had a slightly lower than average turnout but more then fifty percent didn't believe a sports stadium in low Earth orbit was doable at this time.
35% Yes I think there is a business case for Zero-G sports.
52% No, everything space is still to expensive.
12% No opinion.
‘Star Trek’ launches Chris Pine to stardom
"MANILA, Philippines—The "Star Trek" prequel is not only a big hit, but it’s also made a new star of its lead player, Chris Pine, who’s had the distinct good fortune of being tapped to play the plum role of the U.S.S. Enterprise starship’s young captain, James T. Kirk.
The role is one of the film season’s most coveted assignments, because it builds on William Shatner’s portrayal of the heroic captain in his mature years. Having delighted televiewers for decades, the "Star Trek" franchise’s move to the big screen is a major film event, the success of which is sure to rub off on its young cast, with Pine as its most prominent beneficiary.
Luminaries
How did the 29-year-old actor finally get his big break? Very definitely, he was no overnight discovery. In fact, he can even be described as having been born with the proverbial silver spoon of show business in his mouth: Both of his parents, Robert Pine and Gwynne Gilford, were actors, and even his grandparents on his mother’s side, Max M. Gilford and Anne Gwynne, were Hollywood luminaries."
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YESTERDAY'S COMMENTS:
"commercially successful space sports would be just deserts for all those like myself who love space exploration and hate sports.
But close on the heels of space sports would be space porn. Which would also have a strong commercial case, albeit less initial investment funding. Also space reality shows ("in space...you can't leave the house...")" - jessical
"No opinion. Wouldn't we have to have a new sport to take advantage of zero gravity? Something like, oh God Quidditch would work.
I think I just frightened myself." - Moody Loner
"holy cow, how did i not know about that..? Very interesting; I got to the website, will check it out in detail.
I had no idea anything like this was going on.
Re. sports: the more I think of 3-D soccer with wings, the more I think it might be a good one to try. Consider it being played inside a large sphere with the goals at opposite points on the "equator."
The sphere might even revolve slowly to generate some artificial gravity for when people pause and stick themselves to the interior surface. The cameras would be on fixed mountings so the rotation wouldn't be visible to confuse the audience. The rotation would introduce another factor into the ballistics of scoring goals: you have to hit a "moving object" that's "below" or "in front of" you.
The video would be priceless: players floating and flying in every spatial orientation, upside-down, 90-degrees, and so on. And soccer already has a huge global audience." -
[NOTE: The link for Bigelow Aerospace]
THE SPACE FUNNY PAGE:
Submitted to the comments section by JekyllnHyde.
TODAY'S POLL:
Read other NASA and Space diaries on DKOS.
