Posted: Sun, Feb 25, 2001, 1:33 PM ET (1833 GMT)
NASA administrator Dan Goldin said Saturday that the Bush Administration directed him to reassign Johnson Space Center director George Abbey, an account that is not universally accepted. Goldin, interviewed with SPACE.com, said that the decision late Friday to transfer Abbey to NASA Headquarters as Senior Assistant for International Issues — a move seen by many as tantamount to firing — came after a Bush Administration request to Goldin to reform the human spaceflight program, a process that Goldin said would also include restructuring and integrating other projects. Not everyone agrees with that description of events, however: NASA Watch reported Sunday that its sources said the decision to remove Abbey as the head of JSC was instigated by Goldin himself, who then got it approved by the White House. Goldin's position as head of NASA itself remains uncertain: he told SPACE.com he had no idea how long he would remain as administrator but that he would "work with unbelievable intensity" until he left the agency.

Related Links:

•  SPACE.com interview with Goldin
•  NASA Watch