President Obama has nominated Gen. Charles Bolden a former astronaut, retired Commanding General of the Third Marine Aircraft Wing after and current CEO of Jack & Panther LLC, a privately-held military and aerospace consulting firm, as the new NASA administrator.
Obama also selected Lori Garver as deputy administrator. Gaver is currently the president of Capital Space, LLC, and has served as senior advisor for space at the Avascent Group, a Washington DC based strategy and management consulting firm, based in Washington, D.C. She helped lead the agency review team for NASA during the transition to the current administration.
The selection of Gen. Bolden has been widely praised. The chair of the House Science Committee, Bart Gordon, D-Tenn., said he looked forward to learning more about Gen. Bolden and working with him in his new role. The chair of the space subcommittee, Gabrielle Giffords, D-AZ, credited Gen. Bolden with "valuable first hand knowledge."
Giffords noted that the appointment comes at a crossroads as the committee begins work on a multi-year authorization for NASA.
