{"id":14348,"date":"2017-09-09T23:01:04","date_gmt":"2017-09-09T15:01:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp-productionenv-bjg9h2g2bgg5b8aa.southeastasia-01.azurewebsites.net\/news\/white-house-taps-bridenstine-to-head-nasa\/"},"modified":"2017-09-09T23:01:04","modified_gmt":"2017-09-09T15:01:04","slug":"white-house-taps-bridenstine-to-head-nasa","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/news\/white-house-taps-bridenstine-to-head-nasa\/","title":{"rendered":"White House taps Bridenstine to head NASA"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"
Rep. Jim Bridenstine, R-Oklahoma, speaks at the 32nd Space Symposium in April 2016. Credit: Tom Kimmell\/Space Foundation<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

President Trump plans to nominate Rep. Jim Bridenstine, an Oklahoma Republican who has championed commercial spaceflight and a return to the moon, to be the next NASA administrator after months of speculation.<\/p>\n

Bridenstine was long rumored to be the favorite for the post, taking over for former NASA administrator Charlie Bolden, who left the agency at the end of the Obama administration in January.<\/p>\n

The three-term Oklahoma congressman is a pilot in the U.S. Navy Reserve who has taken an interest in space policy in his time on Capitol Hill. Bridenstine is a member of the House Armed Services Committee and the Committee on Science, Space and Technology.<\/p>\n

\u201cI am pleased to have Rep. Bridenstine nominated to lead our team,\u201d said Robert Lightfoot, NASA\u2019s acting administrator. \u201cOf course, the nomination must go through the Senate confirmation process, but I look forward to ensuring a smooth transition and sharing the great work the NASA team is doing.\u201d<\/p>\n

Lightfoot, a career civil servant and aerospace engineer, has led the agency since Bolden\u2019s departure.<\/p>\n

\u201cI look forward to working with a new leadership team, and the administration, on NASA\u2019s ongoing mission of exploration and discovery,\u201d Lightfoot said. \u201cOur history is amazing, and our future is even brighter, as we continue to build on this nation\u2019s incredible global leadership in human exploration, science, aeronautics and technology.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bridenstine is a proponent of increased commercial involvement in space exploration, and he has advocated a return of U.S. astronauts to the lunar surface before NASA mounts a human expedition to Mars.<\/p>\n

The Senate must confirm Bridenstine\u2019s nomination.<\/p>\n

Before his election to Congress, Bridenstine was executive director of the Tulsa Air and Space Museum and Planetarium. He holds an MBA from Cornell University and undergraduate degrees in economics, psychology and business from Rice University.<\/p>\n

A crewed mission to Mars is NASA\u2019s stated long-term objective, a destination set by the White House and Congress during the Obama administration in the aftermath of the space shuttle\u2019s retirement. The space agency has no official plans for a return to the moon, but has said it will support commercial or international efforts to land crews on the lunar surface.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think it\u2019s important for us to keep Mars as a priority, but I also think that if the rest of the world is going to the moon, we ought to be leading that effort and not following, or just dismissing it altogether,\u201d Bridenstine told reporters in February.<\/p>\n

He has raised concerns about China\u2019s ambitions on the moon, and has called for NASA to make room for commercial partnerships on a potential lunar mission.<\/p>\n

The European Space Agency, one of NASA\u2019s main international partners, has openly discussed creating a moon village, or lunar base, with a broad global partnership like the alliance that created the International Space Station.<\/p>\n

\u201c\u201dI think it\u2019s important for the United States to lead there,\u201d Bridenstine said. \u201cI think what is available on the moon is very helpful to get to Mars, and it\u2019s a place where we can learn.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re talking about going to Mars. Would you rather learn for the first time on Mars, or would you rather learn where there\u2019s a three-day emergency trip back to Earth? I would rather learn where there\u2019s a three-day emergency trip back to Earth.\u201d<\/p>\n

It\u2019s not clear how much input Bridenstine will have on President Trump\u2019s space policy, which will be driven by a new National Space Council chaired by Vice President Mike Pence. The space council includes members from NASA, the Department of Defense and other government agencies.<\/p>\n

Supports of a \u201cMars first\u201d policy say a lunar expedition would delay missions to the red planet and ultimately be more expensive. They also question how much could be learned with a lunar landing or a moon base because a Mars descent requires different technology, such as a heat shield, a parachute and braking rockets.<\/p>\n

NASA says it could send a crew to the vicinity of Mars by the early-to-mid 2030s, with a landing to come some time later. Bridenstine is skeptical whether that schedule is realistic.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t want to do anything that would slow our path to Mars, but I want make sure we get there, and I want to make sure we get there safe, and I think the moon represents the best opportunity to develop technologies that are necessary to do that.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen we ultimately go back to the moon, which is what I believe we should do and I believe we will do, I think it is important that we don\u2019t go to leave flags and footprints again, that we go for a permanent presence,\u201d Bridenstine said in a February speech at the FAA\u2019s Commercial Space Transportation Conference in Washington. \u201cThere are strategic important reasons to do that. The poles of the moon contain billions of tons of water and at the poles of the moon, you also have almost permanent sunlight. That water ice represents power. It represents fuel.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bridenstine has also authored legislation to streamline regulations on the commercial space industry, and he has proposed changing the way the U.S. government tracks space junk in orbit, shifting the responsibility for orbital traffic management from the military to a civilian agency.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe need to provide regulatory certainty for new non-traditional space activities like commercial space stations, orbital robotic servicing of satellites, and other orbital servicing capabilities, and resource utilization from the moon and asteroids,\u201d Bridenstine said in February.<\/p>\n

He\u2019s helped drive efforts at NOAA to acquire commercial satellite weather data to add to the observations gathered by expensive government-owned weather satellites.<\/p>\n

In the realm of space exploration, Bridenstine said he backs NASA\u2019s Space Launch System and Orion programs, a huge heavy-lift rocket and crew capsule that could be used to support Mars or lunar missions. But he said government-run space projects should be handed over to the commercial sector when feasible, such as a future research outpost in low Earth orbit once the International Space Station is retired.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen space development is in the national interests of our country and the capital costs and risks are too high for commercial enterprise to \u2018close the business case,\u2019 the U.S. government should lead,\u201d Bridenstine said. \u201cBut it should do so with the purpose to retire risk and eventually commercialize when able.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bridenstine pledged to serve only three terms in the House of Representatives, and he said he was not planning to run for re-election before his nomination to head NASA.<\/p>\n

Some space advocacy groups welcomed Bridenstine\u2019s nomination.<\/p>\n

\u201cTogether with the establishment of the National Space Council chaired by Vice President Pence, this step advances the framework for U.S. leadership in space,\u201d said Mary Lynne Dittmar, President and CEO of the Coalition for Deep Space Exploration. \u201cRep. Bridenstine has been an active and vocal advocate for space on Capitol Hill. We look forward to working with NASA\u2019s new leadership team to support NASA\u2019s development of a deep space infrastructure for human spaceflight, beginning with the Space Launch System, Orion crew vehicle and Exploration Ground Systems.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Commercial Spaceflight Federation, formed by a group of private sector companies, also expressed support.<\/p>\n

\u201cNASA needs dedicated and inspired leadership, and Representative Bridenstine is an outstanding choice to provide precisely that,\u201d said Alan Stern, board chair of the Commercial Spaceflight Federation. \u201cThe Commercial Spaceflight Federation applauds this strong choice for NASA administrator and a bright American future in space.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI have had the privilege of working with Mr. Bridenstine since his first year in Congress and have been very impressed with his deep knowledge of space technology issues and his record of strong leadership in promoting positive change,\u201d said Eric Stallmer, CSF\u2019s president. \u201cHis wide range of experience will provide a welcomed perspective for all space stakeholders.\u201d<\/p>\n

But Florida\u2019s two senators have expressed concerns about the nominee, according to a report in Politico.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe head of NASA ought to be a space professional, not a politician,\u201d Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Florida, told Politico.<\/p>\n

According to Politico, Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Florida, said he worried Bridenstine\u2019s \u201cpolitical baggage\u201d would hurt his chances to be confirmed in the Senate.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s the one federal mission which has largely been free of politics and it\u2019s at a critical juncture in its history,\u201d Rubio said in Politico. \u201cI would hate to see an administrator held up \u2014 on [grounds of] partisanship, political arguments, past votes, or statements made in the past \u2014 because the agency can\u2019t afford it and it can\u2019t afford the controversy.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bridenstine has questioned the validity of scientific data on climate change.<\/p>\n

Rubio said NASA should have an administrator who has the \u201crespect of the people who work there from a leadership and even a scientific perspective,\u201d Politico reported.<\/p>\n

Email the author.<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

Follow Stephen Clark on Twitter: @StephenClark1.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Rep. Jim Bridenstine, R-Oklahoma, speaks at the 32nd Space Symposium in April 2016. Credit: Tom Kimmell\/Space Foundation President Trump plans to nominate Rep. Jim Bridenstine, an Oklahoma Republican who has championed commercial spaceflight and a return to the moon, to be the next NASA administrator after months of speculation. Bridenstine was long rumored to be […]<\/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":[466,931,328,1801],"class_list":["post-14348","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","tag-jim-bridenstine","tag-president-donald-trump","tag-space-policy","tag-white-house"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14348"}],"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=14348"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14348\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14348"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14348"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14348"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}