NASA Administrator Sean O’Keefe and the White House have announced
the nomination of former NASA astronaut and Assistant Deputy
Administrator Maj. Gen. Charles F. Bolden, U.S. Marine Corps, as
NASA’s next Deputy Administrator.
Bolden, 55, currently serves as the Commanding General, 3rd Marine
Aircraft Wing. As Deputy Administrator, Bolden will serve as the
chief operating officer for the Agency and report directly to the
Administrator. He will be responsible for directing and managing many
of the programs and day-to-day operations and activities at NASA.
“I am delighted that General Bolden is joining NASA again,” said
Henry McDonald, Director of NASA Ames Research Center in California’s
Silicon Valley. “He brings a wealth of management and leadership
experience to the Agency, and we look forward to working with him.”
“I am grateful for the President’s overwhelming confidence in General
Bolden. I could not ask for a more qualified partner to help lead
this great agency,” said Administrator O’Keefe. “His management and
leadership skills in the fields of aeronautics and space technology
will play a vital role in charting a new course for America’s space
program. I am delighted he accepted this nomination and look forward
to welcoming him back to the NASA family. We are hopeful for
expeditious consideration by the United States Senate.”
A veteran of four Space Shuttle flights, Bolden was pilot on STS-61C
in 1986 and STS-31 in 1990, and was the mission commander on STS-45
in 1992. That same year, he was appointed Assistant Deputy
Administrator at NASA Headquarters in Washington, a position he held
until 1994, when he was named commander of STS-60. He left the space
program having logged more than 680 hours in orbit.
