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One on One CHARLES F. BOLDEN, JR. TAKES USBE&IT BEYOND THE STARS
naut and retired Marine general, and 1996 Career Achievement in Govern- ment BEYA honoree, took the helm of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration at a pivotal moment in the agency’s history.
C The former aviator,
the first African Ameri- can to head NASA, was charged with overseeing a broad review to determine the next steps for space exploration, even as the space shuttle program was being wound down.
Not long after he took
charge, the administration decided to scuttle the Con- stellation program, which involved developing new spacecraft for both
Charles F. Bolden, Jr. NASA Administrator
harles F. Bolden, Jr., a former space shuttle astro-
missions during the Vietnam War.
Later, he earned a
master’s degree in systems management. Afterward, he was assigned to the Test Pi- lot School at Patuxent River, Md. In 1980, he was selected as an astronaut candidate. He eventually logged more than 680 hours in space, and com- manded two space shuttle missions.
After several promo- tions and command assign- ments, he retired from the Marines as a major general in 2003. He was working as chief executive officer of JackandPanther, a Texas- based military and aerospace consulting firm, when Presi- dent Obama nominated him to head NASA in early 2009. He was confirmed by the Senate and began his duties as NASA administrator in July 2009.
missions to the moon and orbital flight, as well as new rocket boosters. NASA decided to rely on the commercial space indus- try to ferry future astronauts to the international space station. Meanwhile, NASA plans to focus its attention on developing a capsule capable of taking astronauts far into space, to asteroids and, perhaps, Mars.
Bolden raised eyebrows when he told an interviewer at al-Jazeera television that one of his top priorities was to “reach out to the Muslim world,” a misstatement that fueled a frenzy among right-wing pundits and conspiracy theorists. The White House quickly disavowed the statement and Bolden has clarified it, saying that cooperative space exploration can build bridges between nations.
The controversies have not eclipsed the important work that Bolden is undertaking at NASA.
Bolden, 64, was raised in South Carolina and earned a com- mission to the U.S. Naval Academy, where he earned a Bachelor of Science degree in electrical engineering in 1968. After flight training, he became a naval aviator, and flew more than 100
www.blackengineer.com
He recently discussed the challenges of his new job with US Black Engineer and Information Technology magazine. The conversation follows here:
USBE&IT: After the space shuttle is mothballed, when do you expect U.S. astronauts will again go into space on a U.S. spaceship? Bolden: A decision was made back in 2004 to phase the shuttle out and now it is our job to see this process through. Fortunately, the future for human spaceflight is bright and we expect to have many more capabilities for accessing low-Earth orbit than we have now. We anticipate redundant access by a range of industrial partners very much in the fashion of what you saw from SpaceX with their Falcon 9 launch vehicle and Dragon capsule as a potential candidate for a future crew vehicle to low-Earth orbit. NASA will provide oversight to commercial companies working on this capability but no longer needs to own the systems themselves. We also expect that other govern- ment agencies, [and] other industry, academia, and international
USBE&IT I WINTER 2011 9
by Michael A. Fletcher
mfletcher@ccgmag.com
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