Who's the boss? For now Christopher Scolese, Sort of

Still routing for Dr. Lennard Fisk, although I do trust Obama to make a good choice, and Scolese has good potential

It's funny, I recall a short list of nominees that was vetoed by various stakeholders in congress and NASA back in February. Out here among the unwashed masses, it seems like the administration would rather focus its limited bandwidth on other, arguably more critical, issues than get involved in that fight. The funny part is that the same stakeholders who killed the short list of pre-nominees are now complaining there is no nominee forthcoming. I wonder how much their unwillingness to compromise and negotiate earlier has led us down this road.

The last President we had who cared at all about NASA and space was LBJ, when the space agency got its biggest budget ever, and that was over 40 years ago. Of course there was political motive to it, but LBJ was also genuinely interested in seeing the US succeed in the Final Frontier. He even mentioned Mariner 4 twice in his Inauguration speech.

JFK, Reagan, and Bush Jr. used space for purely political purposes. Clinton and Carter didn't care about space much at all. Nixon was the worst of course. I don't think Ford was in office long enough to really matter. Bush Sr. did care, but he let Dan Quayle run the show, the guy who still thought Mars had canal-building aliens on it.

Obama keeps saying he supports science all the way. But recall that just before Election Day last November, one of his flunkies tried to promote doing virtual telepresence in space over sending actual humans into it, saying that's what all the kids are into these days. I bet it reflected Obama's real outlook on space more than he will publicly admit.

By the time the USA finally does get to the Moon again, we will probably be greeted in either Hindi or Chinese or both.

Johnson killed production of the Saturn V launch vehicle and refused to go forth with the Apollo Applications project beyond Skylab.

He was a bit of an indian-giver.

Mike P., I thought that was Nixon in 1970?

The last President we had who cared at all about NASA and space was LBJ

Would that be the LBJ who made the decision to end the Apollo program in 1967?

I agree, let Scolese just continue. Probably a *much* better choice than Lampson...

--S

I have also not been that impressed by the Democratic track record, or the record of most previous administrations. Clinton left Goldin in charge, a NASA Administrator that was put in place by one Bush, stayed in place through an entire Democratic two term president, then left when the next Bush came in place. Does this mean the last Democratic president who actually chose a NASA administrator will have been Carter? That does not make me feel good about the Democrats and their commitment to Space. Gore was a big supporter of the Earth Observing Systems, now it sounds like Obama is copying the same attitude. No real concern for things outside, but lots of eyes looking at Earth?

I certainly would like a great leader with an understanding of large technical organizations appointed ASAP. However...

A quick Google news search will uncover many article on the large number of positions in the new administration (e.g. 15 top posts in HHS - including CDC - and 20 in Homeland Security) STILL going unfilled.

Just a hypothesis, but...maybe we should not be as worried as we have been that the administration is giving NASA the cold shoulder. Maybe NASA is just one of many and it doesn't mean all the bad things we are thinking it might.

I'm not saying that it isn't bad and doesn't have bad implications for shuttle, Orion, Ares/whatever. I'm just saying that MAYBE it's just "nothing personal". Just a thought.

@ Rand Simberg

From the same source:

"However, the [Nixon] Administration, in realigning national priorities, has relegated the space program to a lesser role."

http://www.hq.nasa.gov/office/pao/History/SP-4214/ch12-2.html

Bad space policy would appear to be a bi-partisan condition.

@ Rand Simberg

I LOVE that the article you provided via a link mentions that the federal deficit might reach "29 billion" that year...

...Boy, Oh Boy...those where the days...hehe

Does anyone have statistics on how quickly past administrators have been appointed? I seem to recall some coming fairly late in the year.

"However, the [Nixon] Administration, in realigning national priorities, has relegated the space program to a lesser role."

That does not change the fact that it was LBJ who terminated the Saturn V production line, and reduced AAP from 45 launches to 8 launches.

On an inflation-adjusted budget, LBJ cut more from NASA funding in his last three budgets than Nixon did in all six of his.

Yes, the cutting was bipartisan, but the agency was pretty well hollowed out by the time Nixon took office.

@Simberg:
don't understand your post? The text at your link indicates cuts for the Apollo program in 1967 under LBJ (along with just about eveything else in the budget as deficits were being driven by Vietnam expenditures), but there is NO statement that LBJ moved to kill the Apollo program. How about a little more specifics?

If we can stop debating LBJ vs. Nixon -- both corrupt pols -- the original claim was that LBJ was the last pro-space President.

Ronald Wilson Reagan was incredibly pro-space. He supported commercial as well as civil space, and increased NASA's budget significantly after David Stockman's initial cuts.

I'm not saying that makes Republicans more pro-space. I'm not making a partisan comment at all.

I'm just saying Ursus 4 is wrong.

Scolese has proven that he is competent, and should also have the "interim" removed from his title.

Good luck, Chris.

I think Scolese would be a good choice. He grew up at NASA and understands the Agency. I don't know his position on retiring the Shuttle, or the CxP architecture we are saddled with, or anything else for that matter. Being from Goddard, he would certainly be pro-science. But he is certainly capable of doing the job as well as anyone. Typically these types of appointments have some political bearing and Dick Truly (ex-astronaut) was the only Administrator with prior employment with NASA on his resume. This excludes another astronaut who served as acting for 2 months, Fred Gregory. A career NASA employee like Scolese has never served as Administrator and I don't believe that trend will change. I expect a political outsider to be appointed at a time when Obama has time to get around to it.

there is NO statement that LBJ moved to kill the Apollo program. How about a little more specifics?

As another commenter noted (though to be fair it's not obvious, or at least explicit, from the NASA history link I provided) it was LBJ who shut down the Apollo production line. I know that that describing the actual history is politically incorrect to those who have an ideological need to believe that Richard Nixon killed Apollo, but while he had many sins, that was not one of them.

Scolese would be Griffin re-dux: the self-absorbed "I'm the smartest guy in the room" technical type, except more Machiavellian with less hard technical skill.

In what Universe is it "change we can believe in" to just promote the old NASA #2?? Isn't this the same guy who executed the Griffin plans that Obama himself said sent NASA "adrift"? (a side note: yes, I know Shana Dale was technically Griffin's #2 as Deputy Administrator, but everyone knows he marginalized her in favor of his preferred stock: Scolese and other techie types.)

Also, the Obama Administration needs to know that Scolese (along with Ed Weiler) are directly responsible for the *multi-billion* dollar cost overruns the Science Mission Directorate is now crippled with from the James Webb Space Telescope and MSL. Scolese is directly responsible for allowing those programs to get completely out of control on his watch, and that's not even counting the budgetary surprises that wait for us in the out years.

No more of the same, please. Now's our chance for a *new* NASA and we need it more than ever.

well what writing:

The additional funding is provided in 2011 in anticipation that the funding is needed for the remaining eight space shuttle missions to safely fly and to complete the construction and equipping of the international space station.”

what happens if the anticipation is taken care of, move the funds to science&aeronautics in energy research? at code R centers.

hummm

We need a change at NASA which means we need a new Administrator thats not alreasy tied up with the agency. When you're so close you can't always see the problems for what they are. With Scolese there would be no change but more of the same, yes he's a great guy. How would he approach managements wrong doings? How would he weigh the whistle blowers of the agency? How would the agency be more diverse (for women/african american men/as well as other people of color).

If management doesn't change we'll have more of the same.