Senate confirms Bolden as new NASA administrator

William Atkins
Thursday, 16 July 2009 18:47

Science - Space

Charles Frank Bolden, Jr. was confirmed by the U.S. Senate on Wednesday, July 15, 2009, as the new NASA head. He becomes the twelfth administrator of the U.S. space agency the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.


In addition, Lori Beth Garver was confirmed as NASA’s deputy administrator at the same Senate meeting.

At his confirmation, Charles Bolden stated, "It is an honor to have been nominated by President Obama and confirmed by the Senate to lead this great NASA team. Today, we have to choose. Either we can invest in building on our hard-earned world technological leadership or we can abandon this commitment, ceding it to other nations who are working diligently to push the frontiers of space."

Bolden added, "If we choose to lead, we must build on our investment in the International Space Station, accelerate development of our next generation launch systems to enable expansion of human exploration, enhance NASA's capability to study Earth's environment, lead space science to new achievements, continue cutting-edge aeronautics research, support the innovation of American entrepreneurs, and inspire a rising generation of boys and girls to seek careers in science, technology, engineering and math." [NASA (7/15/09): “Bolden and Garver Confirmed by U.S. Senate”]

The NASA media brief stated that Bolden had a 34-year career with the Marine Corps, retiring as a major general. He also was involved in four space shuttle missions between 1986 and 1994, two of which was the commander.

Lori Garver will be Bolden’s second in command. She will be responsible for providing leadership, planning, and policy for the space agency. Garver will be the voice of NASA to the White House, the U.S. Congress, along with other governments and organizations.

She stated at the time of her confirmation, “I am very excited about the opportunity to serve under Charlie Bolden's leadership. My previous five years at NASA exposed me to the incredible talent of the workforce there. The unbelievable achievements of this team over its 50-year history are unmatched. I look forward to working with Charlie and the NASA team to make our agency work as effectively as it can for the American people."