Let's All Dump on Charlie

NASA chief takes more flak from Congress, Orlando Sentinel

"During the Thursday hearing, U.S. Rep. Alan Grayson of Orlando hammered Bolden on where he thinks NASA should send its astronauts next. Bolden said NASA's goal was to send astronauts to Mars but he was vague on when that might happen and where astronauts might go beforehand -- as the new NASA vision aims to develop futuristic new spacecraft, rocket engines and fuel depots before settling on a destination. That response didn't sit well with the freshman Democrat, who often interrupted Bolden before concluding that NASA was "taking a shot in the dark" by relying on commercial rocket companies. "What you are doing is taking NASA's manned-space program and making it a faith-based initiative," Grayson said."

Keith's note: Rep. Grayson was being purposefully obnoxious, rude, and snarky today. What purpose that served him escapes me since Bolden's calm professional demeanor certainly made him look like the adult in this little exchange while Grayson came across as an arrogant newbie.

Under Fire, Administrator Defends NASA's New Direction, NY Times

"Notably, those speaking out against the changes are not just members of Congress representing Alabama, Florida and Texas -- the homes of the NASA centers that would be most directly affected by the cancellation of the rockets and spacecraft that make up the current program, known as Constellation."

- Congress grills Bolden about Constellation cancellation, Florida Today
- NASA's New Space Plan a 'Radical Change,' Lawmakers Say, space.com

Rude or not? Watch Grayson grill NASA chief, (with Video) Orlando Sentinel

"At a U.S. House hearing Thursday, U.S. Rep. Alan Grayson of Orlando grilled NASA chief Charles Bolden on the agency's new plan to send astronauts into orbit. The exchange raised eyebrows throughout the House Science and Technology committee, as the freshman Democrat often interrupted Bolden - and prompted some condemnation in space circles."


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23 Comments

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Personally, I am happy to see someone actually try to fight for NASA. It's pretty bad when the administrator doesn't seem to care about his employees or the organization that he is supposed to be in charge of. Thank you Rep. Grayson for actually standing up for NASA and the future of manned-space flight!!!

Ahhh...and here comes the "secret cabal to kill NASA" comment from Rep. Olson. "You are the head of NASA." Does he really need to be told that?

Let the discourse run its toll.

The truth will be out soon. Certain members of the NASA workforce cannot find there way out of a paper bag with one end open.

have a great future!

> I am happy to see someone actually try to fight for NASA.

You really mean something other than NASA there, don't you. Maybe you mean fight for people working on a program that experts say is a waste of money and time?

They know the game is over. This is just posturing for the benefit of their next re-election or hoped-for careers as aerospace lobbyists.

When you have a lousy plan, you deserve to be grilled.

LOL
When you have a lousy plan.

who is creating the plan, NASA! The plan is not created yet until we can understand what the problem is: LOL

ARMD, SMD, SOMD are doing super duper!

it is fine with President Obama and Gen Bolden if you are not part of NASA.

have a great future!

@Aerospace Engineer

I wouldnt give them that much credit to say they had a lousy plan. They had no plan.

@not confused - First of all you are clearly very confused about everything and for the record, the NASA workforce is not in danger. The job losses will all come to the contractors.

Well Spaceboy

This is why I work for a science activity, and yes it is normal to be confused until your are not confused.

They had no plan on purpose, You confused Spaceboy?

"The truth will be out soon. Certain members of the NASA workforce cannot find there way out of a paper bag with one end open.

have a great future!"

If you are going to dump on someone's intelligence, at least be grammatically correct.

I would much more prefer to dump on Holdren...the architect and "man behind the curtain" as it were.

I don't believe his "sauteeing" yesterday was televised.

He deserves to be DUMPED ON!

Bolden should resign! He is not a 'friend' of NASA..despite his crying on cue!

Rocketscientist 85: Have you not seen Bolden actually cry in the all hands briefings about the reduction in force that would occur? That man is more real and more human than many of the people "fighting" for NASA. Bolden IS fighting for NASA and the future of the US space program. Those people in Congress are fighting for their next election.

I have been pleasantly surprised at the support coming from Congress. It's a bit odd seeing politicians fighting a Nasa administrator and ex-astronaut for our manned space program.

Congress is about as popular with the US electorate as Iran.

It doesn't matter too much to me how hurt they pretend to be.

I suspect in this environment their usual theater is just further eroding their future viability. But, time will tell...

The only bad thing about this budget, IMO, is the loss of Orion. It was coming along pretty well. What worries me is what is going to happen with HLV? I don't see the private sector developing this (or in the near future). So, what do we do? Are we going to abandon it altogether. What about shuttle derived HLV? Ares 1 was a total waste of money. Not sure why Griffin was so stuck on that vehicle.

Does anyone think there is going to be a compromise here? Will Orion remain but Ares stays out? Will the Beoings, LM, ATK for an alliance to keep the shuttle derived HLV going? So many questions.....I just pray that everything will work out, the optimist in me thinks it will.

My guess is that the HLV will probably end up being saved as a compromise between FlexPath/Bolden and Constellation. It'll help keep jobs, it's a necessary piece of equipment, and commercializing is probably too difficult at this point.

I will be amazed if Orion does not survive in some form or another, either as ULA's commercial vehicle (presumably on an EELV launcher), a back-up vehicle if SpaceX/SpaceDev fail, or as the core for the dedicated deep space vehicle that FlexPath seems to be hinting at- possibly all three.

And yes, I agree, while Constellation was arguably doomed to start with, the Ares I was the last straw.

Grayson is a clown and always has been. It feels really disconcerting to actually be on his side during the questioning. His basic point was the Agency is adrift without a flight plan (to mix metaphors), in order to spend 19 billion, you gotta have requirements. I'd sure like to know how KSC is going to build state of the art launch facilities without knowing what they are launching.

Keith is right. Grayson was acting like a frat boy showing off to his frat buddies. Shameful.

Grayson was rude! Unfortunately, Obama put Bolden in this situation.

Sorry, but you just don't casually attempt to destroy the American people's space program!

Marcel F. Williams

The reason he gets all choked up is that he knows many of the people he has worked with over the years, the extremely talented people who trained him for his space flights and supported him from the ground are all about to get thrown under the bus and there is nothing he can do to help them. If he believes this is the best course of action then he shouldn't be upset about the consequences.

I believe that several weeks before the new budget came out, Bolden stated at some speaking engagements that "you are not going to like me" when the President's version of NASA is announced. Well, we now know what the President wants to do; the Pro-NASA public doesn't like it, and now he is not liked. Bolden is being critized left and right. He predicted his own fate.

While Obama should be the one answering these questions since he has decided to change direction without providing a new path, it is legitimate for Congressmen to ask the NASA Administrator why NASA should receive tens of billions of dollars to do nothing specific. Even though I am a strong supporter of NASA, the idea of just telling them to "go do good things" with no clear objective, timetable or accountability strikes me as very poor policy. Charlie knew what he was getting into, so I do not feel bad that he got grilled by a Congressman frustrated with ambiguous answers from this Administration.

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This page contains a single entry by Keith Cowing published on February 26, 2010 10:54 AM.

NASA's Most Important Asset, Gerry Griffin, 31 December 1996 was the previous entry in this blog.

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