15 votes

NASA chief plans to step aside under Biden

7 comments

  1. [2]
    Eric_the_Cerise
    Link
    Too bad. I did not have high hopes for Bridenstine, but he has been good for NASA, one of the only good things out of the Trump Admin. I hope Biden keeps pushing NASA towards returning to the...

    Too bad. I did not have high hopes for Bridenstine, but he has been good for NASA, one of the only good things out of the Trump Admin.

    I hope Biden keeps pushing NASA towards returning to the Moon. The history of each new Admin junking the previous Admin's plans and, essentially, forcing NASA to start over again, every 4 or 8 years ... that's got to stop.

    13 votes
    1. j3n
      Link Parent
      I agree. I was skeptical at first, but Jim's perspective coming from Congress really seemed to serve the agency well. Whenever he did agency-wide all hands, he always did a great job at explaining...

      I agree. I was skeptical at first, but Jim's perspective coming from Congress really seemed to serve the agency well. Whenever he did agency-wide all hands, he always did a great job at explaining the intricacies of the NASA/congress relationship and how he was working that relationship as best he could to benefit that agency.

      I hope Biden's term sees a return to climate science for the agency in a big way, but I equally hope that it doesn't come at the expense of our already underfunded space missions.

      7 votes
  2. Ember
    Link
    That's disappointing. He's had a lot of success with NASA, to the surprise of many. Acted pretty apolitical, got a lot of momentum going on Artemis, the big successes with SpaceX commercial crew...

    That's disappointing. He's had a lot of success with NASA, to the surprise of many. Acted pretty apolitical, got a lot of momentum going on Artemis, the big successes with SpaceX commercial crew program, did well communicating with Congress... I'll be sad if NASA gets another hard change. Continuity is so important on these things that work on the scale of decades.

    10 votes
  3. [4]
    JXM
    Link
    Good. The current person in charge is just political appointee and former Representative who, as far as I can tell, has no former experience with running a space agency or large public figure.

    Good. The current person in charge is just political appointee and former Representative who, as far as I can tell, has no former experience with running a space agency or large public figure.

    4 votes
    1. [3]
      asteroid
      Link Parent
      I've spoke with longtime space geeks who have said Bridenstine is the one appointee they'd like to keep. That despite expectations he has done a good job. I do not know enough to have a personal...

      I've spoke with longtime space geeks who have said Bridenstine is the one appointee they'd like to keep. That despite expectations he has done a good job.

      I do not know enough to have a personal opinion, however.

      5 votes
      1. [2]
        JXM
        Link Parent
        Good to know. Honestly, I just assumed that having a political appointee running the agency would be bad. Other commenters seem to be echoing your sentiment, so it looks like I jumped to...

        Good to know. Honestly, I just assumed that having a political appointee running the agency would be bad.

        Other commenters seem to be echoing your sentiment, so it looks like I jumped to conclusions based on every other Trump appointee.

        3 votes
        1. j3n
          Link Parent
          I assumed the same thing initially, but I can tell you from the inside that he has actually done a really great job. I don't think it's a universal truth that politicians make great heads of...

          I assumed the same thing initially, but I can tell you from the inside that he has actually done a really great job. I don't think it's a universal truth that politicians make great heads of agencies or anything, but Jim really seemed to take the agency's mission to heart, and because of both that and his congressional connections, he is/was an excellent advocate for NASA in DC.

          4 votes