{"id":18555,"date":"2018-04-23T20:06:08","date_gmt":"2018-04-23T12:06:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp-productionenv-bjg9h2g2bgg5b8aa.southeastasia-01.azurewebsites.net\/news\/nasas-new-administrator-jim-bridenstine-touts-bipartisanship-after-divisive-debate\/"},"modified":"2018-04-23T20:06:08","modified_gmt":"2018-04-23T12:06:08","slug":"nasas-new-administrator-jim-bridenstine-touts-bipartisanship-after-divisive-debate","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/news\/nasas-new-administrator-jim-bridenstine-touts-bipartisanship-after-divisive-debate\/","title":{"rendered":"NASA\u2019s new administrator, Jim Bridenstine, touts bipartisanship after divisive debate"},"content":{"rendered":"<figure id=\"attachment_414446\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-414446\" style=\"width: 630px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full-width wp-image-414446\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.geekwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/180423-bride3-630x543.jpg\" alt=\"Pence and Bridenstine\" width=\"630\" height=\"543\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cdn.geekwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/180423-bride3-630x543.jpg 630w, https:\/\/cdn.geekwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/180423-bride3-768x662.jpg 768w, https:\/\/cdn.geekwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/180423-bride3-1260x1087.jpg 1260w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 630px) 100vw, 630px\"><figcaption data-nosnippet=\"\" id=\"caption-attachment-414446\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Vice President Mike Pence stands behind NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine after his swearing-in ceremony. (GeekWire Photo \/ Alan Boyle)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>WASHINGTON \u2014 Just hours after his resignation from the House took effect, Jim Bridenstine was sworn in today as NASA\u2019s 13th administrator and signaled that he\u2019d try to mend the partisan divisions that marked his nomination.<\/p>\n<p>Vice President Mike Pence, chairman of the National Space Council, officiated for the swearing-in ceremony here at NASA Headquarters.<\/p>\n<p>The three NASA astronauts aboard the International Space Station played supporting roles during a live space-to-ground video hookup that was only slightly delayed by a glitch in the connection. (\u201cDid we pay the bill?\u201d Pence joked during the wait.)<\/p>\n<p>Pence took the occasion to trumpet the Trump administration\u2019s interest in space exploration, as he has at every space-related event at which he\u2019s appeared. Today he said he was honored to usher in \u201ca new chapter of renewed American leadership in space with the swearing-in of the newest administrator of NASA.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou can be assured that you have an advocate and an ally and a champion in President Donald Trump,\u201d Pence told the audience, which consisted mostly of NASA employees but also included VIPs such as White House aide Kellyanne Conway and Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas.<\/p>\n<p>Soon afterward, Pence administered the oath of office to Bridenstine as he was surrounded by his family. When Bridenstine took the podium, he offered thanks to Robert Lightfoot, who is retiring after spending a record-setting 15 months as NASA\u2019s acting administrator. He also paid tribute to his colleagues in Congress, where he served as a member of the House from 2013 until today.<\/p>\n<p>Bridenstine made sure to include Rep. Ed Perlmutter, D-Colo., a fellow member of the House Subcommittee on Space, in his litany of thanks.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYour bipartisan&nbsp;\u2014 and that\u2019s important in space, it\u2019s been bipartisan&nbsp;\u2014 your bipartisan leadership has been critical to our country,\u201d Bridenstine told his former congressional colleagues.<\/p>\n<p>The comment seemed to serve as an answer to one of the criticisms most frequently leveled against Bridenstine during the Senate\u2019s consideration of his nomination: that it\u2019d be inappropriate to put a politician in charge of what\u2019s considered one of the U.S. government\u2019s least political agencies. Bridenstine is the first elected official to go on to lead NASA.<\/p>\n<p><iframe title=\"Vice President Pence Swears in New NASA Administrator Bridenstine\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/hX_9CbS4KPA?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen=\"\" data-ratio=\"0.5625\" data-width=\"800\" data-height=\"450\" style=\"display: block; margin: 0px; width: 800px; height: 450px;\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>Bridenstine also faced criticism over harsh comments he made about President Barack Obama\u2019s climate policies, and political statements that denigrated same-sex marriage and LGBTQ protections.<\/p>\n<p>During his confirmation hearings, Bridenstine acknowledged that industrial activities are having an effect on Earth\u2019s climate, although he and his critics in the Senate quibbled over how big that effect was. He also told senators that he\u2019d make sure everyone at NASA will \u201cbe able to excel based on the merits of their work exclusively.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Last week, the Senate confirmed Bridenstine\u2019s nomination on a party-line 50-49 vote \u2014 an unusually close tally for the NASA post. In contrast, the administrators chosen by Obama (Charlie Bolden) and President George W. Bush (Sean O\u2019Keefe and Mike Griffin) were confirmed by unanimous votes.<\/p>\n<p>Bridenstine is likely to make a strong push toward commercializing space activities in low Earth orbit and energizing exploration beyond Earth orbit, in line with the policy initiatives laid out by Pence and the National Space Council.<\/p>\n<p>As the head of an agency with a $20 billion annual budget and 18,000 employees, Bridenstine&nbsp;will have to manage the repeatedly delayed ramp-ups for the James Webb Space Telescope, the Orion deep-space capsule and the heavy-lift Space Launch System. He\u2019ll also&nbsp;preside over next year\u2019s 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing.<\/p>\n<p>In a nod to past glories, the new administrator pledged to ensure that America \u201cremains the pre-eminent spacefaring nation in the world.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI will do my best to serve our storied agency to the utmost of my abilities as we reach for new heights and reveal the unknown for the benefit of humankind,\u201d Bridenstine said.<\/p>\n<p>During today\u2019s space-to-ground video link, NASA astronaut Drew Feustel emphasized the continuity of the space program.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAs an astronaut for the last 18 years, I\u2019ve seen us progress from the days of shuttle and the retirement of that spacecraft, and embarking on a new endeavor after we had completed the space station, now to move into commercial crew opportunities and also with NASA\u2019s development of the Orion spacecraft that we hope will take us off to distant destinations \u2014 beginning, we hope, with the moon and eventually on to Mars and wherever that might lead us,\u201d Feustel told Pence. \u201cWe\u2019re really excited about that.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>NASA\u2019s current schedule calls for a new space complex to be built in lunar orbit in the mid-2020s, followed by crewed journeys to Mars and its moons in the 2030s.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_414450\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-414450\" style=\"width: 630px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full-width wp-image-414450\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.geekwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/180423-bride-630x516.jpg\" alt=\"Bridenstine sworn in\" width=\"630\" height=\"516\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cdn.geekwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/180423-bride-630x516.jpg 630w, https:\/\/cdn.geekwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/180423-bride-768x629.jpg 768w, https:\/\/cdn.geekwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/180423-bride-1260x1032.jpg 1260w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 630px) 100vw, 630px\"><figcaption data-nosnippet=\"\" id=\"caption-attachment-414450\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine gets hugs from his family after being sworn in. (GeekWire Photo \/ Alan Boyle)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Feustel also put in a pitch for Earth science, which hasn\u2019t drawn nearly as much enthusiasm from the Trump administration. \u201cIt\u2019s important as humans to understand what\u2019s happening to the Earth; and this [space station] is a great platform to do that,\u201d Feustel said.<\/p>\n<p>Not all of the rhetoric during the swearing-in ceremony was high-flown. Toward the end of the ceremony, Pence&nbsp;\u2014 who once served as Indiana\u2019s governor&nbsp;\u2014 asked Feustel about his enthusiasm for Indy 500 racing.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThere are not many racing vehicles that I am not a fan of,\u201d Feustel said. \u201cBut yeah, I\u2019ve been watching races every weekend, getting some great shots from up above, and folks can look forward to another one of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway here coming up in a couple of weeks.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWell, I\u2019ll tell you what,&nbsp;Andrew, I know that all those race car drivers would be a little jealous of the speed that you\u2019re lapping right now,\u201d Pence replied.<\/p>\n<p>For the record, the space station circles Earth at roughly 17,000 mph. So, ladies and gentlemen&nbsp;\u2014 including Administrator Bridenstine, who\u2019s a former naval aviator and rocket plane racer \u2014 start your engines.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Vice President Mike Pence stands behind NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine after his swearing-in ceremony. (GeekWire Photo \/ Alan Boyle) WASHINGTON \u2014 Just hours after his resignation from the House took effect, Jim Bridenstine was sworn in today as NASA\u2019s 13th administrator and signaled that he\u2019d try to mend the partisan divisions that marked his nomination. [&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":[466,1974,190,4467],"class_list":["post-18555","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","tag-jim-bridenstine","tag-mike-pence","tag-nasa","tag-politics"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18555"}],"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=18555"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18555\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18555"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=18555"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=18555"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}