Bolden Commands Wide Support In Congress, But Conflicts Issue Remains

How Will Bolden As Administrator Work With Norm Augustine Panel?

Support voiced by leading members of Congress and influential outsiders indicate that retired Marine Corps Maj. Gen. Charles F. Bolden Jr., 62, a former astronaut, is likely to win confirmation as the first black NASA administrator — provided he can finesse his prior close contacts with contractors working on the next-generation NASA spaceship program.

President Obama as expected chose Bolden to lead the space agency at a difficult time in its half-century history. (Please see Space & Missile Defense Report, Monday, May 18, 2009.)

Possible questions that may come up during Bolden’s confirmation hearing before the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee (no date has been set yet for that session) will include questions about his links to contractors working for NASA.

For example, he was a consultant (some say lobbyist) for Alliant Techsystems Inc. [ATK], which is leading development of a portion of the next-generation Ares I rocket that NASA is developing in the Constellation Program. Other companies working on Ares I include The Boeing Co. [BA] and the Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne unit of United Technologies Corp. [UTX].

Further, Bolden served on the board of GenCorp Inc., which has business dealings with NASA, such as a contract it received for a sub-scale electric propulsion direct drive system for use in cargo transport vehicles traveling on the moon and Mars.

Obama, however, has mandated tough ethics rules strictly limiting any work that government officials can do affecting their former employers. (The president did make an exception, waiving that rule for now-Deputy Secretary of Defense Bill Lynn, a former Raytheon Co. [RTN] lobbyist.)

If Bolden gains Senate confirmation despite these issues, then he as a former astronaut steeped in NASA culture and victories may oppose what some in Congress say is weak future funding that Obama has proposed for the agency. (Please see Space & Missile Defense Report, Thursday, May 7, 2009.)

The Obama budget would flatline NASA funding at less than $19 billion yearly into the next decade, at a time when the Constellation Program should be moving into advanced development, production and testing work. Some NASA advocates fear either Constellation will be short of funds, or science or aeronautics programs may be raided for money, and Bolden might have to fight for appropriations increases.

However, Obama also chose Lori Garver to be deputy NASA administrator, and she may press for even lower funding levels in some areas, as a counterweight to Bolden. She handled space-related matters during the Obama transition last fall, after the Illinois senator won the White House in the general election.

It would be Garver’s second tour of duty at that lofty NASA level, having been deputy administrator for policy and plans during the Clinton administration.

Garver clashed with then-NASA Administrator Michael Griffin when she asked him last fall whether it might be cheaper to ashcan the Constellation Program effort to develop the Ares I rocket to boost the Orion crew capsule to space, and instead substitute an existing military rocket, the Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle (EELV — the Delta IV by Boeing or the Atlas V by Lockheed Martin Corp. [LMT]). Griffin told her she wasn’t qualified to make such an assessment, adding that the EELV wouldn’t be able to perform some of the functions that Ares I could for lunar missions. Later, Obama allowed Griffin to resign pro forma on Jan. 20, as Obama entered the White House, rather than reappoint Griffin to the top NASA post.

Another open question in the Bolden nomination is just how much input he will have in setting the long-range strategic goals of the agency, including its human space exploration programs.

Before naming Bolden, Obama named a commission to study the long-term goals and objectives of the space agency, including reviewing the Constellation Program and whether it should move ahead to completion.

That panel is headed by Norm Augustine, former chairman and CEO of Lockheed.

The Augustine group, the Review of United States Space Flight Plans, is expected to issue its findings in a report due out in August.

Augustine said the group will review the "architecture" of the Constellation Program, which could include which rocket to use. As well, he said the money spent thus far in developing Ares I wouldn’t be an issue to the commission, but that the possibility of saving money in future would be a consideration. Proponents of Ares I, who oppose shifting to the EELV, say such a change would waste billions of dollars and several years invested in the Ares I program, adding that the EELV would have to be human-rated.

(Please see Space & Missile Defense Report, Monday, May 11, 2009.)

Bolden Praised

The choice of Bolden to succeed Griffin at the helm of the space agency drew wide plaudits on Capitol Hill.

Sen. John D. "Jay" Rockefeller IV (D-W.Va.), chairman of the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee that will review the nomination, looks forward to moving Bolden swiftly toward confirmation. The panel also authorizes NASA programs.

"I applaud President Obama for nominating Gen. Charles Bolden to be administrator of NASA," Rockefeller said. "I look forward to moving this nomination through the Commerce Committee in short order."

The Bolden pick also drew praise from Sen. Barbara A. Mikulski (D-Md.), who chairs the Senate Appropriations Committee commerce, justice, science and related agencies subcommittee, which has oversight of the NASA budget and provides the actual money that the space agency spends each year.

"We are at a critical point in NASA’s history, so I’m pleased that President Obama has chosen Charles F. Bolden, Jr., as his NASA administrator and Lori Garver as his NASA deputy administrator," Mikulski said. "I will certainly support their nominations."

Bolden also drew high praise from Rep. Bart Gordon (D-Tenn.), chairman of the House Science and Technology Committee, and from Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-Ariz.), who chairs its space and aeronautics subcommittee. They oversee authorization of NASA programs in the House.

The Bolden selection as well drew solid support from heavy hitters outside Congress.

One is Marion Blakey, president and CEO of the Aerospace Industries Association (AIA), which includes NASA contractors among its members.

She said the Bolden and Garver nominations "reflect the president’s commitment to ensuring a sound U.S. space program.

"Together, Bolden and Garver’s leadership, experience and vision will guide NASA at a very important time when decisions about the future of America’s space leadership will be made on several fronts. From fully supporting Constellation to utilizing the International Space Station and supporting both robust NASA science and aeronautics programs, AIA and its members are looking forward to working with the new NASA team."

Also giving the Bolden nomination a thumbs-up was the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA), where institute President Dave Thompson said Bolden and Garver would provide good leadership for NASA.

"As their nominations advance, AIAA looks forward to [Bolden’s and Garver’s] leadership on issues ranging from the future of the International Space Station program, the plans for human exploration and the expansion of NASA’s science and aeronautics programs," Thompson said.

Both nominees possess "strong leadership skills and personal experiences [that] will be valuable assets to NASA and the United States space community."

It has been roughly a third of a year since Griffin resigned from the top NASA post, and critics have asked why such an important position at the space agency was permitted to remain vacant for so long, when many NASA programs are at critical stages.

One problem Bolden must confront at NASA is that Obama has provided a funding plus-up for the impending fiscal year ending Sept. 30, 2010, but then the base budget flatlines at less than $19 billion total per year for the next several years when Constellation Program funding needs rise sharply.

Many members of Congress and others have said NASA is sorely underfunded. (Please see Space & Missile Defense Report, May 22, 2009.)

Bolden Life Story

A Columbia, S.C., native, Bolden is a Naval Academy graduate (1968), and has some 6,000 hours of flight time, including service as a Vietnam veteran who flew more than 100 sorties into Nam, and as a graduate of the U.S. Naval Test Pilot School at Patuxent River, Md.

As an astronaut, Bolden has compiled more than 680 space hours, serving on several space shuttle missions: STS-61C in 1986, and STS-31 in 1990 when Space Shuttle Discovery launched the Hubble Space Telescope, which was just refurbished in a special and spectacularly successful space shuttle mission. (Please see separate story in this issue.)

Bolden also served as commander of STS-45 in 1992 and STS-60 in 1994.

On that initial 1990 Hubble mission, one of Bolden’s fellow crew members was Bill Nelson.

Today, Sen. Bill Nelson (D-Fla.) chairs the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee science and space subcommittee, where he has been a strong proponent of having Bolden lead NASA. Nelson is expected to press for Bolden’s confirmation, and to continue pushing for better financial support for the space agency.