spacetoday.net: Bolden nominated for NASA administrator

Posted: Sat, May 23, 2009, 10:47 AM ET (1447 GMT)
Charles Bolden (USMC)

The White House announced Saturday morning that it has nominated former astronaut Charles Bolden as NASA administrator. Bolden first emerged as a candidate for the position in January and was backed by Senator Bill Nelson (D-FL), who chairs the Senate subcommittee with oversight of NASA, but had been thought to be the preferred choice of the Obama Administration until recently. Bolden did meet with the president earlier in the week. Bolden, a retired Marine Corps general, was a NASA astronaut from 1980 to 1994, serving as pilot of two shuttle missions and commander of two more. At the same time as the Bolden nomination the White House announced that it was nominating Lori Garver, a former executive director of the National Space Society who worked at NASA during the late 1990s, as deputy administrator. The unusual timing of the nomination, at the beginning of a three-day holiday weekend, was thought by some to be tied to the STS-125 shuttle mission, which was set to end this morning. However, the landing was postponed until Sunday around the time of the announcement.