NASA Administrator Daniel S. Goldin today appointed George Abbey,
Director
of the
Johnson Space Center (JSC), as his Senior Assistant for International
Issues.
This
appointment comes after a highly decorated career stemming from the Apollo
program,
which earned Abbey the Medal of Freedom for his role on the Apollo 13
Mission
Operations Team.

Roy Estess, Director of NASA’s Stennis Space Center in Mississippi, will
serve
as the
acting director of JSC. Stennis is the Agency’s lead center for rocket
propulsion testing
and for commercial remote sensing.

“George has done a commendable job of leading a safe and dependable Space
Shuttle
program,” said Goldin. “The International Space Station is now a reality,
thanks to
George’s extensive commitment and capability. Destiny, the U.S. laboratory
module, was
successfully delivered to the ISS just a week ago. The United States has a
permanent
presence in space. I am profoundly grateful to George for his professional
and
personal
dedication to the Agency.

“As the President has indicated, there needs to be reform in human
spaceflight.
During
this time of transition, it is also the time for a change of leadership at
the
Johnson Space
Center. We face a difficult and challenging future within the space
program,
and Roy
Estess, working closely with Joe Rothenberg, Associate Administrator for
Space
Flight, will
ensure a firm footing during this period.

“The people at the Johnson Space Center are outstanding, and they will
continue
to make
the space program strong. Roy Estess is a great Center Director, and I
encourage the JSC
staff to give Roy their full support,” said Goldin.

Rothenberg will have the responsibility, along with Estess, to look at the
talent at NASA
and make recommendations as to who should be the new leader of JSC. Estess’
40-
year

career in critical engineering and management positions distinguished him as
a
recognized leader, twice receiving the Presidential Distinguished Service
Award.

Rothenberg, head of NASA’s Human Exploration and Development of Space
Enterprise,
has institutional responsibilities for the Johnson Space Center in Houston,
the
Kennedy
Space Center in Florida, the Marshall Space Flight Center in Alabama and the

Stennis
Space Center. Rothenberg previously served as the Director of the Goddard
Space
Flight
Center in Maryland.

Spanning a 50-year career, Abbey’s legacy reveals a professional dedication
that
created
hallmarks in the history of space flight. Resigning his Air Force
commission in
1967, he
distinguished himself at the Johnson Space Center through increasingly
responsible
positions where he served as the Director of Flight Operations, responsible
for
the early
operational flights of the Space Shuttle, and the Director of Flight Crew
Operations,
responsible for management of flight crews as well as center aircraft.

Abbey held senior level positions at NASA Headquarters before he was named
acting
JSC Director in 1995, becoming Center Director in 1996. In 1991, he was
appointed to the
Executive Office of the President as Senior Director, Civil Space Policy,
National Space
Council.