{"id":13850,"date":"2018-04-19T17:21:05","date_gmt":"2018-04-19T09:21:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp-productionenv-bjg9h2g2bgg5b8aa.southeastasia-01.azurewebsites.net\/news\/bridenstine-narrowly-confirmed-in-senate-to-become-next-nasa-chief\/"},"modified":"2018-04-19T17:21:05","modified_gmt":"2018-04-19T09:21:05","slug":"bridenstine-narrowly-confirmed-in-senate-to-become-next-nasa-chief","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/news\/bridenstine-narrowly-confirmed-in-senate-to-become-next-nasa-chief\/","title":{"rendered":"Bridenstine narrowly confirmed in Senate to become next NASA chief"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>STORY WRITTEN FOR&nbsp;CBS NEWS&nbsp;&amp; USED WITH PERMISSION<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_31846\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-31846\" style=\"width: 900px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-31846\" src=\"http:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/38094749021_5778531184_k.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"900\" height=\"615\" srcset=\"https:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/38094749021_5778531184_k.jpg 900w, https:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/38094749021_5778531184_k-300x205.jpg 300w, https:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/38094749021_5778531184_k-768x525.jpg 768w, https:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/38094749021_5778531184_k-678x463.jpg 678w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 900px) 100vw, 900px\"><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-31846\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Rep. Jim Bridenstine, R-Oklahoma, during a nomination hearing before the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation on Nov. 1, 2017. Credit: NASA\/Joel Kowsky<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Rep. Jim Bridenstine, an Oklahoma Republican, was confirmed Thursday as NASA\u2019s 13th administrator after months of partisan wrangling over his lack of experience in the space arena and prior statements questioning human contributions to climate change.<\/p>\n<p>In an extremely close party-line vote, Bridenstine was confirmed 50-49, seven-and-a-half months after President Trump picked him to lead the civilian space agency. It was the most contentious nomination process in recent NASA history with most previous administrators confirmed unanimously or with little opposition.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt is an honor to be confirmed by the United States Senate to serve as NASA administrator,\u201d Bridenstine said in a statement. \u201cI am humbled by this opportunity, and I once again thank President Donald Trump and Vice President Mike Pence for their confidence.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI look forward to working with the outstanding team at NASA to achieve the President\u2019s vision for American leadership in space.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Bridenstine will take over from acting NASA Administrator Robert Lightfoot, who has been leading the civilian space agency since its previous administrator, former shuttle commander Charles Bolden, retired in the wake of the 2016 elections. Lightfoot\u2019s retirement is effective at the end of the month.<\/p>\n<p>Pence, who chairs the National Space Council, tweeted his congratulations:<\/p>\n<p><iframe id=\"twitter-widget-0\" scrolling=\"no\" frameborder=\"0\" allowtransparency=\"true\" allowfullscreen=\"true\" class=\"\" style=\"position: absolute; visibility: hidden; width: 0px; height: 0px; display: block; flex-grow: 1;\" title=\"X Post\" src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/embed\/Tweet.html?dnt=false&amp;embedId=twitter-widget-0&amp;features=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%3D%3D&amp;frame=false&amp;hideCard=false&amp;hideThread=false&amp;id=987053688589111297&amp;lang=en&amp;origin=https%3A%2F%2Fspaceflightnow.com%2F2018%2F04%2F19%2Fbridenstine-narrowly-confirmed-in-senate-to-become-next-nasa-chief%2F&amp;sessionId=bb339987ba372302208cf7704fb18e6b759649dd&amp;theme=light&amp;widgetsVersion=6a3ad42b224df%3A1778106238597&amp;width=550px\" data-tweet-id=\"987053688589111297\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-lang=\"en\" data-twitter-extracted-i1782699154381384767=\"true\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">Congrats Rep Bridenstine on being confirmed as the next @NASA Administrator! Under @POTUS, America will lead in space once again. We look forward to working with Jim Bridenstine to restore America\u2019s proud legacy of leadership in space- essential to our nat\u2019l security &amp; prosperity<\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Vice President Mike Pence (@VP) April 19, 2018<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><script async=\"\" src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>As might be expected, Bridenstine supports President Trump\u2019s space policy, which calls for ending full government support of the International Space Station in 2025 and encouraging development of more commercial activity in low-Earth orbit, freeing NASA up to pursue a return to the moon and eventual piloted missions to Mars.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019ve been talking to Jim, and I know he\u2019s eager to begin leading this team,\u201d said Lightfoot. \u201cHe joins our great agency at a time when we are poised to accomplish historic milestones across the full spectrum of our work.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI know first-hand how talented and dedicated our workforce is, and that all of you stand ready to work with our new administrator to accomplish our exciting goals, including returning Americans to the moon.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>A former Navy combat pilot, Bridenstine was elected to represent Oklahoma\u2019s first congressional district in 2012, serving on the House Armed Services Committee and the Science, Space and Technology Committee.<\/p>\n<p>He accumulated 1,900 hours flying time and 333 carrier landings flying E-2C Hawkeye turboprops and, later, F-18 Hornets before leaving active duty to serve as executive director of the Tulsa Air and Space Museum &amp; Planetarium. He majored in economics psychology and business at Rice University and holds an MBA from Cornell University.<\/p>\n<p>He is the first politician to be named NASA administrator and his lack of professional space experience and technical education prompted strong criticism from Democrats, including Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Florida, who has long worked on space-related issues and who flew in orbit aboard the shuttle Columbia as a guest astronaut in January 1986.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe NASA administrator should be a consummate space professional \u2026 not a politician,\u201d Nelson said earlier this week. \u201cMore importantly, the administrator must be a leader who has the ability to bring us together to unite scientists and engineers and commercial space interests and policymakers and the public on a shared vision for future space exploration.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Nelson described Bridenstine\u2019s congressional behavior as \u201cdivisive as any in Washington,\u201d and said the nominee was \u201cnot prepared to be the last in line to make that fateful decision on go or no-go for launch.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>During Bridenstine\u2019s confirmation hearing, critics also challenged past comments about climate change. In a 2016 interview with Aerospace America, he questioned human contributions to climate change, saying \u201cit has always changed.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThere were periods of time long before the internal combustion engine when the Earth was much warmer than it is today,\u201d he said. \u201cGoing back to the 1600s, we have had mini ice ages from then to now.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat\u2019s why we need to continue studying it,\u201d he said when asked if humans might, in fact, be playing a role. \u201cAgain, I am not opposed to studying it. What you\u2019ll find though is that the space-based assets that are studying climate change are not in agreement with the terrestrial assets that are studying climate change.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Many experts disagree with that assertion and during his confirmation hearing, Bridenstine said he believes human activity contributes to the buildup of greenhouse gases but would not say how significant that contribution might be. He did, however, promised that \u201cscience would drive the mission at NASA,\u201d Politico reported.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cShould I be confirmed, it will be my intention to build off the work done by the great people at NASA during the last administration,\u201d he said. \u201cWe must all do this together.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The Commercial Spaceflight Federation applauded the confirmation, saying in a statement that \u201cNASA needs dedicated and inspired leadership, and Representative Bridenstine is an outstanding choice to provide precisely that.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The Coalition for Deep Space Exploration agreed. President and CEO Mary Lynne Dittmar said the \u201ccoalition and its member companies stand ready to support Administrator Bridenstine as we take the next steps in the exploration of deep space, returning to the moon and going on to Mars.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>STORY WRITTEN FOR&nbsp;CBS NEWS&nbsp;&amp; USED WITH PERMISSION Rep. Jim Bridenstine, R-Oklahoma, during a nomination hearing before the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation on Nov. 1, 2017. Credit: NASA\/Joel Kowsky Rep. Jim Bridenstine, an Oklahoma Republican, was confirmed Thursday as NASA\u2019s 13th administrator after months of partisan wrangling over his lack of experience in [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[466,1728,931,632],"class_list":["post-13850","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","tag-jim-bridenstine","tag-nasa-headquarters","tag-president-donald-trump","tag-senate"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13850"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13850"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13850\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13850"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13850"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13850"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}