Who is the current head of NASA?
Jim Bridenstine
James Frederick Bridenstine (born June 15, 1975) is an American politician and the Administrator of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). Bridenstine served as the United States Representative for Oklahoma's 1st congressional district, based in Tulsa from January 3, 2013 to April 23, 2018. He is a member of the Republican Party.
Michael D. Griffin
On March 11, 2005, President George W. Bush announced his intention to nominate Griffin to serve as the 11th Administrator of NASA. He was confirmed by the Senate on April 13, 2005. Griffin was subsequently sworn in by Vice-President Dick Cheney, a rarity for a NASA Administrator and signifying the importance NASA held to the Bush Administration. The Administration even recalled its former NASA transition team director and chief of staff, Courtney Stadd, to assist Griffin.
Charles Kennel
Charles F. Kennel (born 1939) is an American scientist and member of the United States National Academy of Sciences born in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
Kennel received a bachelor's degree in astronomy from Harvard College and a doctorate in astrophysical sciences from Princeton University.
In 1997 he received the James Clerk Maxwell Prize in Plasma Physics. 
In 2009, he was advertised by NASA Watch as a potential pick by Barack Obama as the next NASA Administrator.
Frederick D. Gregory
Frederick Drew Gregory (born January 7, 1941), (Col, USAF, Ret.), is a former United States Air Force pilot, military engineer, test pilot, and NASA astronaut as well as former NASA Deputy Administrator. He also served briefly as NASA Acting Administrator in early 2005, covering the period between the departure of Sean O'Keefe and the swearing in of Michael Griffin.
Woodrow Whitlow Jr.
Dr. Woodrow Whitlow Jr. is the associate administrator for Mission Support at NASA. He was appointed to this position by NASA administrator Charles Bolden on February 3, 2010. Prior to this, he was director of the NASA Glenn Research Center in Cleveland Ohio.
Michael M. Watkins
Michael M. Watkins, an American engineer and scientist, is director of NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, and a vice president of the California Institute of Technology, which staffs and manages JPL for NASA. These appointments were effective July 1, 2016.
Immediately before becoming JPL's director, Watkins had served from 2015 to 2016 as the Clare Cockrell Williams Chair in Engineering and director of the Center for Space Research at the University of Texas at Austin. Before joining the University of Texas at Austin, Watkins was on the staff of JPL for 22 years. During that time, he served as chief scientist for JPL’s Engineering and Science Directorate, manager of JPL’s Science Division and manager of its Navigation and Mission Design Section. He was mission manager from development through landed operations for the Mars Science Laboratory mission, which sent the Curiosity rover to Mars. He also led NASA development and review teams for the Cassini, Mars Odyssey and Deep Impact robotic space missions. 
Watkins served as project scientist for the GRACE, GRAIL and GRACE Follow-On missions. He was an originator of the concept for the GRACE mission, which uses a pair of Earth-orbiting satellites to make detailed measurements of Earth's gravity field anomalies. In addition, he has been a pioneer in the development and use of gravity data for new science applications to better understand Earth’s climate and its evolution. Other research interests include mission design, instrument design and science analysis for acquisition and use of remote sensing data for Earth and other planets.
Watkins holds bachelor’s, master’s degree and Ph.D. degrees in aerospace engineering from the University of Texas at Austin. He has published in both engineering and science, contributed more than 100 conference presentations, and serves or served on the boards of numerous international scientific and engineering societies. In addition, he has taught estimation, filtering theory and system engineering at the University of Texas at Austin and at Caltech.
Milton Windler
Milton "Milt" Windler is a retired NASA Flight Director. He is best known for his work as one of the four flight directors of Apollo 13 Mission Operations Team, all of whom were awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Richard M. Nixon for their work in guiding the crippled spacecraft safely back to Earth. Previously a jet fighter pilot, he began working at NASA in 1959 during Project Mercury. Originally working in the recovery division, he was promoted to flight director by Chris Kraft to support Eugene Kranz, who had acquired additional responsibilities in the months following the Apollo 1 fire. Windler also served as flight director for Apollo 8, Apollo 10, Apollo 11, Apollo 14, Apollo 15, and all three Skylab missions. Following the conclusion of the Apollo Program, Windler worked in the Space Shuttle Project Office on Remote Manipulator Systems Operations until 1978. He is a recipient of the NASA Exceptional Service Medal.
James L. Green
In 2018, acting NASA Administrator Robert Lightfoot named Green as the NASA's new chief scientist, effective May 1, 2018.
Carl E. Walz
Carl Erwin Walz (Colonel, USAF, Ret.) (born September 6, 1955) is a former NASA astronaut currently working for Orbital Sciences Corporation's Advanced Programs Group as Vice President for Human Space Flight Operations. Walz was formerly assigned to the Exploration Systems Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters in Washington, DC. He was the Acting Director for the Advanced Capabilities Division in the Exploration Systems Mission Directorate, and was responsible for a broad range of activities to include Human Research, Technology Development, Nuclear Power and Propulsion and the Lunar Robotic Exploration Programs to support the Vision for Space Exploration.
Daniel Goldin
Daniel Saul Goldin (born July 23, 1940) served as the 9th and longest-tenured Administrator of NASA from April 1, 1992, to November 17, 2001. He was appointed by President George H. W. Bush and also served under Presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush.
James Kasting
James Fraser Kasting (born January 2, 1953) is an American geoscientist and Distinguished Professor of Geosciences at Penn State University. Kasting is active in NASA’s search for habitable extrasolar planets. He is considered a world leader in the field of planetary habitability, assessing habitable zones around stars. He was elected a member of the National Academy of Sciences in 2018. Kasting also serves on the Advisory Council of METI (Messaging Extraterrestrial Intelligence).
Charles Bolden
On May 23, 2009, President Barack Obama announced the nomination of Bolden as NASA administrator and Lori Garver as deputy NASA administrator. Bolden was confirmed by the Senate on July 15, 2009. He was the first African American to head the agency on a permanent basis.
Nitza Margarita Cintrón
Nitza Margarita Cintrón (born 1950) is a Puerto Rican scientist and Chief of Space Medicine and Health Care Systems Office at NASA's Johnson Space Center.
Epaminondas Stassinopoulos
Epaminondas George Aristotle Alexander Stassinopoulos (born Bonn, Germany on 17 January 1921) is the retired head of the Radiation Physics Office and current Emeritus Astrophysicist at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)'s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. He is the author of numerous papers and articles in the field of space radiation.
Dennis C. Blair
Dennis Cutler Blair (born February 4, 1947) is the former United States Director of National Intelligence and is a retired United States Navy admiral who was the commander of U.S. forces in the Pacific region. Blair was a career officer in the U.S. Navy and served in the White House during the presidencies of both President Jimmy Carter and President Ronald Reagan. Blair retired from the Navy in 2002 as an Admiral. In 2009, Blair was selected as President Barack Obama’s first Director of National Intelligence, but after a series of bureaucratic battles, he resigned on May 20, 2010.
Marcia McNutt
Marcia Kemper McNutt (born February 19, 1952), , is an American geophysicist and the 22nd president of the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) of the United States. Previously, she served as editor-in-chief of the peer-reviewed journal "Science" from 2013 to 2016. McNutt holds a visiting appointment at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography. She is a member of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine advisory committee for the Division on Earth and Life Studies and the Forum on Open Science. McNutt chaired the NASEM climate intervention committee who delivered two reports in 2015.
Harrison Schmitt
Schmitt was chair of the NASA Advisory Council, whose mandate is to provide technical advice to the NASA Administrator, from November 2005 until his abrupt resignation on October 16, 2008. In November 2008, he quit the Planetary Society over policy advocacy differences, citing the organization's statements on "focusing on Mars as the driving goal of human spaceflight" (Schmitt said that going back to the Moon would speed progress toward a manned Mars mission), on "accelerating research into global climate change through more comprehensive Earth observations" (Schmitt voiced objections to the notion of a present "scientific consensus" on climate change as any policy guide), and on international cooperation (which he felt would retard rather than accelerate progress), among other points of divergence.
NASA Chief Scientist
The Chief Scientist position was created to advise the NASA Administrator on budget, strategic objectives, and current content of NASA's science programs. The Chief Scientist works closely with appropriate representatives of the NASA Strategic Enterprises and the Field Centers, as well as advisory committees and the external community. The Chief Scientist represents the Agency's scientific objectives and accomplishments to other federal agencies, industry, academia, other government organizations, the international community, and the general public.
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
Gallaudet succeeded Benjamin Friedman, who served as NOAA's interim administrator since the end of the Obama Administration on January 20, 2017. In October 2017, Barry Lee Myers, CEO of AccuWeather, was proposed to be the agency's administrator by the Trump Administration.
W. James Adams
W. James (Jim) Adams served as the Deputy Chief Technologist at NASA in the Office of the Chief Technologist (OCT) from 2012 until retiring from NASA in 2016. NASA’s OCT is responsible for direct management of NASA’s space technology programs and for coordination and tracking of all technology investments across the agency.
James R. Schlesinger
In 2007, NASA Administrator Michael Griffin appointed Schlesinger to be the Chairman of the National Space-based Positioning, Navigation, and Timing (PNT) Advisory Board. The "PNT Board" is composed of recognized Global Positioning System (GPS) experts from outside the U.S. government that advise the Deputy Secretary level PNT Executive Committee in their oversight management of the GPS constellation and its governmental augmentations.
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
Since October 2017, NOAA has been headed by Timothy Gallaudet, as acting Under Secretary of Commerce for Oceans and Atmosphere and NOAA interim administrator.
Rex Geveden
Prior to his tenure with BWXT, Geveden was executive vice president of Teledyne Technologies Inc and president of Teledyne Dalsa in Waterloo, Ontario. Previously he was the president of Teledyne Brown Engineering and the associate administrator of NASA before that. He was selected for that position by NASA chief Michael Griffin on August 17, 2005, after having served in an acting capacity since June of that year. Griffin created the position immediately prior to assigning Geveden to fill it. The associate administrator's task is described as "oversight for all the agency's technical missions' areas and field center operations". Griffin also suggested Geveden was his right-hand man, saying "...if you get a decision from Rex, it's the agency's decision."
Larry D. James
Lieutenant General Larry D. James, Ret. is the deputy director of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory. He assumed his duties on Sep. 23, 2013. He acts as the Laboratory's Chief Operating Officer responsible to the Director for the day-to-day management of JPL's resources and activities. This includes managing the Laboratory's solar system exploration, Mars, astronomy, physics, Earth science, interplanetary network programs, and all business operations. These activities employ 5000 scientists, engineers, technicians, and business support personnel, generating $1.8 billion in annual revenues. Prior to his current role, he served as the Deputy Chief of Staff for Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance, Headquarters USAF. Lt Gen James' prior command was the 14th Air Force and Joint Functional Component Command for Space from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. He has held numerous positions of leadership throughout the United States Air Force and has extensive experience with space issues.
Miles O'Brien (journalist)
From 2009 to 2011, O'Brien served as chairman of the NASA Advisory Council (NAC)'s Education and Outreach Committee and advised the NASA Administrator on mass communication strategies. He rejoined the NAC in April 2014 to advise NASA's senior leadership on challenges and solutions facing the agency as it unfolds a new era of exploration.
Michele Brekke
Michele Brekke is a former flight director in NASA Johnson Space Center (JSC) Space Shuttle Mission Control Center. She is notable for having been the first female NASA flight director. She presently holds the position of Manager, Visiting Vehicle Operations Integration, Transportation Integration Office at JSC.
David Morrison (astrophysicist)
David Morrison has held a variety of senior science management positions at NASA Headquarters in Washington and at Ames Research Center in California. In Washington he was the first Program Scientist for the Galileo mission to Jupiter, where he was responsible for defining the mission objectives and recommending the instruments and science investigations that were selected for this mission. He also served as Deputy Associate Administrator for what is now called the NASA Science Mission Directorate, which is responsible for all NASA space science and flight missions. At NASA Ames, he has been Chief of the Space Science Division, Director Space, and most recently the founding Director of the NASA Lunar Science Institute. His responsibilities included the major NASA missions Lunar Pathfinder, Kepler, and SOFIA. Morrison has served as Councilor of the American Astronomical Society, Chair of the Division for Planetary Science of the American Astronomical Society, President of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific, Chair of the Astronomy Section of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and both President of Commission 16 (Planets and Satellites) and of the Working Group on Near Earth Objects of the International Astronomical Union.
Robert D. Cabana
Robert Donald Cabana (born January 23, 1949) is the director of NASA's John F. Kennedy Space Center, a former NASA astronaut, and a veteran of four Space Shuttle flights. He is also a former naval flight officer and naval aviator in the United States Marine Corps.
Scott Gration
In January 2009 it was speculated that he would be nominated to be the 12th administrator of NASA, replacing Michael Griffin. Gration's nomination became difficult because the law requires that the space agency chief be appointed from civilian life by the President by and with the advice and consent of the Senate. U.S. Senator Bill Nelson (D-Fla.), who chairs the Senate Subcommittee on Science and Space, a key NASA oversight panel, strongly advised then President-elect Obama to avoid selecting Gration as the space agency chief due to his lack of NASA experience. Sources close to the Obama transition, however, said Gration helped write the seven-page space policy paper the Obama campaign released in the August supporting the goal of sending humans to the Moon by 2020 and calling for narrowing the gap between the retirement of the space shuttle and the first flight of its successor system. The paper stood out as the most comprehensive policy statement on NASA released by a major presidential candidate in recent history.
Sean O'Keefe
O'Keefe became NASA administrator on December 21, 2001 after the United States Senate confirmed his nomination. He came to NASA without formal training in science or engineering (as was the case with James E. Webb who was NASA administrator from 1961 to 1968). O'Keefe's tenure at NASA can be divided into roughly three equal periods, each marked by a single problem or event of overriding importance:; in the period December 2001 through January 2003, O'Keefe eliminated a $5 billion cost overrun in the construction of the International Space Station. In 2003 the Space Shuttle "Columbia" accident and its aftermath. From January 2004 through February 2005, O'Keefe re-organized NASA to start working on President George W. Bush's newly announced Vision for Space Exploration to send humans to the Moon and Mars.
Mason Peck
Mason Peck is an associate professor at Cornell University and former NASA Chief Technologist. His immediate predecessor in the NASA position was Bobby Braun.
Robert D. Braun
He joined the faculty of Georgia Tech in 2003, and was the founding director of the university's Center for Space Technology Research. In early 2010, NASA Administrator Charles F. Bolden, Jr. appointed Braun as the Agency's Chief Technologist. In this capacity, he created and staffed the NASA Office of the Chief Technologist, formulated the NASA Space Technology program and advocated for the budget necessary to advance cutting-edge technology applicable to NASA's future missions. Braun served in the position for 20 months before announcing his resignation and returning to Georgia Tech.
Political positions of Ted Cruz
As chairman of the United States Senate Commerce Subcommittee on Space, Science and Competitiveness, Cruz has criticized NASA for conducting what he considers to be too much research on climate change and Earth science, stating that research into these fields are not part of the "core function of NASA." FactCheck.org said that Cruz's comments "made some misleading claims regarding the agency's budgets and the science that it conducts" and noted that research into earth and atmospheric sciences has been fundamental to NASA's mission since the agency's inception."
Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate
The current NASA associate administrator heading ARMD is Jaiwon Shin. He has held the position since 2008, after serving four years as deputy associate administrator for the directorate.
Jimmy Doolittle
From 1957 to 1958, he was chairman of the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA). This period was during the events of Sputnik, Vanguard and Explorer. He was the last person to hold this position, as the NACA was superseded by NASA. Doolittle was offered the job of being the first administrator of NASA, but he turned it down.
William Robert Graham
William Robert Graham (born June 15, 1937) is an American physicist who was Chairman of President Reagan's General Advisory Committee on Arms Control from 1982 to 1985, a Deputy Administrator and Acting Administrator of NASA during 1985 and 1986, and Director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy and concurrently Science Adviser to President Reagan from 1986 to 1989. He then served as an executive in national security-related companies.
Pete Worden
Simon Peter "Pete" Worden (born 1949, in Michigan) was Director of NASA's Ames Research Center (ARC) at Moffett Field, California, until his retirement on March 31, 2015. Prior to joining NASA, he held several positions in the United States Air Force and was research professor of astronomy at the University of Arizona, Tucson. He is a recognized expert on space issues – both civil and military. Worden has authored or co-authored more than 150 scientific papers in astrophysics, space sciences, and strategic studies. He served as a scientific co-investigator for two NASA space science missions, and received the NASA Outstanding Leadership Medal for the 1994 Clementine mission. He was named the 2009 Federal Laboratory Consortium Laboratory Director of the Year.
Michael Ryschkewitsch
Ryschkewitsch was eventually promoted to Deputy Director of Goddard Space Flight Center in 2005, and then to Chief Engineer of NASA in 2007. He was the third person in a row to go from Deputy Director of a NASA field center to Chief Engineer at NASA Headquarters, after Rex Geveden and Christopher Scolese; the first two were also then promoted to Associate Administrator of NASA.
Nitza Margarita Cintrón
Among the positions held by Cintrón at NASA are "Chief of the Biomedical Operations and Research Branch in the Medical Science Division" and "Managing Director of the Life Sciences Research Laboratories" in support of medical operations. In 2004 she was named "Chief of NASA's (JSC) Space Medicine and Health Care Systems Office", position which she currently holds. Cintrón then announced that she would be taking time off to be with her sick mother in Hatillo, Puerto Rico. She then returned to NASA in March 2017. Cintrón said her mother was blessed by god.
Christopher Cassidy
Cassidy was named Chief of the Astronaut Office at NASA in July 2015, succeeding Robert L. Behnken.
James Webb Space Telescope
The JWST is being developed by NASAwith significant contributions from the Canadian Space Agency and the European Space Agencyand is named after James E. Webb, the American government official who was the administrator of NASA from 1961 to 1968 and played an integral role in the Apollo program. Development began in 1996, but the project has had numerous delays and cost overruns, and underwent a major redesign during 2005. In December 2016, NASA announced that construction of the JWST was complete and that its extensive testing phase would begin. In March 2018, NASA delayed the JWST's launch after the telescope's sunshield ripped during a practice deployment. The JWST's launch was delayed again in June 2018 following recommendations from an independent review board, and is currently scheduled for March 2021.
Dream Chaser
On March 13, 2013, NASA announced that former space shuttle commander Lee Archambault was leaving the agency in order to join SNC. Archambault, a former combat pilot and 15-year NASA veteran who flew on Atlantis and Discovery, will work on the Dream Chaser program as a systems engineer and test pilot.
Patrick Scheuermann
Patrick Scheuermann (pronounced "Sherman") is the former Director of the NASA Marshall Space Flight Center located in Huntsville, Alabama. He was named to become the center's twelfth director on September 25, 2012. He succeeds Robin Henderson who had served as acting director for the preceding two months. Scheuermann served as the director of the John C. Stennis Space Center near Bay St. Louis, Mississippi from March 2010 until his appointment to Marshall. Earlier in his NASA career, he served as legislative fellow to Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott.
NASA RealWorld-InWorld Engineering Design Challenge
The James Webb Space Telescope, also known as JWST, was named after former NASA Administrator James Webb. Webb ran the space agency from February 1961 until October 1968. He is considered to have made great contributions to space science which led to the JWST, the next-generation space telescope, which bears his name. Webb is most commonly linked to the Apollo Space Program. It is surprising, considering his vast accomplishments, that Webb was somewhat reluctant to accept the position as NASA administrator. He was not an engineer or scientist, but had held other notable positions in government and aerospace industry. President Kennedy believed Webb to be the best man for the position and convinced him that the position of NASA Administrator was a largely policy oriented position.
Oxygen (Olson and Ingermanson novel)
Nate's distractions include: a serious budget problem that has forced NASA to sell exclusive broadcast rights to a major television network, a clear threat from a prominent US Senator that he "has the votes" to terminate NASA's flagship program, a compromise of project security that darkly suggests a terrorist plot against NASA (and requires him to have an FBI agent as a semi-regular on the NASA campus)--and a controversy involving the crew selection for Ares 10, which is to be the first crewed mission to Mars. NASA's psychiatrists have abruptly demanded interviews with all members of the Ares 10 crew—Josh Bennett, Kennedy Hampton, Alexis "Lex" Ohta, and Bob "Kaggo" Kaganovski. Bob in particular fears that the psychiatrists want to remove him from the crew—because he has never felt entirely secure in his position, mainly because he does not have the devil-may-care abandon that is part of the "astronaut stereotype" and which Kennedy displays in overabundance. So when the psychiatrists call him in for an interview, he tells them that he would gladly obey any order given him by Josh, the assigned mission commander—not mentioning that he always reserves the right to act as he sees fit if he thinks that Josh, or any other commander, has issued a wrong order.
James Morhard
James Morhard is the Deputy Administrator of NASA. He was nominated by President Donald Trump on July 12, 2018 and was confirmed on October 11, 2018. At the time of his nomination, Morhard was noted for his lack of experience in space technology, but his strong bipartisan connections on Capitol Hill and Appropriations Committee experience were noted as potential benefits for the Agency.
Noel Hinners
Noel William Hinners (December 25, 1935 – September 5, 2014) was an American geologist and soil chemist who is primarily remembered for his work with NASA where he worked in a variety of scientific and administrative roles from 1963-1989, including two years as NASA Chief Scientist. In 1977 he was awarded the NASA Distinguished Service Medal.
NASA STI Program
The STI Program Office (STIPO) is funded by the NASA Chief Information Officer (CIO) in Washington, DC. The NASA CIO establishes strategic policy and operational measurements for STIPO, which is located at NASA's Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia. STIPO is charged to collect NASA STI, organize it into a database, ensure that it is preserved via the National Archives and Records Administration, and release the STI via NASA portals or via other channels, such as science.gov and USA.gov. The STI Program participates in the collaborative Open Government Initiative and is a member of CENDI, which is a partnership of Federal STI managers.
Global warming controversy
Climate scientist James E. Hansen, director of NASA's Goddard Institute for Space Studies, wrote in a widely cited "New York Times" article
in 2006, that his superiors at the agency were trying to "censor" information "going out to the public". NASA denied this, saying that it was merely requiring that scientists make a distinction between personal, and official government, views in interviews conducted as part of work done at the agency. Several scientists working at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration have made similar complaints; once again, government officials said they were enforcing long-standing policies requiring government scientists to clearly identify personal opinions as such when participating in public interviews and forums.
Chris C. Kemp
Chris C. Kemp (born Buffalo, New York) is an American information technology executive.
His career included leading IT at the NASA Ames Research Center in Mountain View, California, and as NASA’s first chief technology officer (CTO) for IT. 
Kemp is known for his role in OpenStack, an open source software project for cloud computing. He was a founder of Nebula, a company which tried to commercialize the technology, from 2011 to 2015.
NASA Astronaut Corps
The Chief of the Astronaut Office is the most senior leadership position for active astronauts in the Corps. The Chief Astronaut serves as head of the Corps and is the principal adviser to the NASA Administrator on astronaut training and operations. The first Chief Astronaut was Deke Slayton, appointed in 1962. The current Chief Astronaut is Patrick Forrester.
B612 Foundation
Dr. Thomas David "Tom" Jones (b. January 22, 1955) is a strategic adviser to B612, member of the NASA Advisory Council and a former U.S. astronaut and planetary scientist who has studied asteroids for NASA, engineered intelligence-gathering systems for the CIA, and helped develop advanced mission concepts to explore the Solar System. In his 11 years with NASA he flew on four space shuttle missions, logging a total of 53 days in space. His flight time included three spacewalks to install the centerpiece science module of the International Space Station (ISS). His publications include "Planetology: Unlocking the Secrets of the Solar System."
Jeanette J. Epps
On January 4, 2017, NASA announced that Epps would be assigned as a flight engineer to the International Space Station in mid-2018 for Expeditions 56 and 57, becoming the first African American space station crew member and the 15th African American to fly in space, but on January 16, 2018, NASA announced that Epps had been replaced by her backup Serena M. Auñón-Chancellor, but that Epps would "be considered for assignment to future missions". African-American astronauts have visited the space station, but Epps would have been the first to live there. The reason for Epps' removal was not stated, and NASA spokesperson Brandi Dean said, "These decisions are personnel matters for which NASA doesn't provide information." On January 20, Epps' brother Henry posted a statement on Facebook, since deleted, that "My sister Dr. Jeannette Epps has been fighting against oppressive racism and misogyny in NASA and now they are holding her back and allowing a Caucasian Astronaut to take her place!" Jeanette Epps stated that she could not comment on her brother's post or the reason why she was pulled off the mission, but did state that she has no medical condition or family problem preventing her from flying, and that her training had been successful. The "Washington Post" stated that "Last-minute crew changes are not unusual at NASA."
Holly Ridings
Holly Elizabeth Ridings (born 25 December, 1973) is an American mechanical engineer and the first woman to be chief flight director at NASA. She works at the Johnson Space Center.
Space Task Group
The National Aeronautics and Space Act of 1958, which established NASA, also directed the President of the United States to chair a National Aeronautics and Space Council (later the National Space Council), including the Secretaries of State and Defense, the NASA Administrator, the Chairman of the Atomic Energy Commission, and any additional members that the president chose to appoint. This council was tasked with making recommendations on the direction of the US civilian and military space programs. Occasionally this council was referred to as a "Space Task Group". President John F. Kennedy persuaded Congress to modify the law to give him the authority to appoint the Vice President to chair the council in his place. As the Apollo program reached its climax in 1969, President Richard M. Nixon directed Vice President Spiro T. Agnew's "Space Task Group" to recommend a future direction of the US manned space program. Agnew enthusiastically supported an ambitious Space Transportation System program including reusable spacecraft, permanent Earth and Lunar stations, and human flight to Mars. However, Nixon knew the mood in the US Congress would not continue to sustain funding at the level of Apollo, and cut these plans back to only the development of the Space Shuttle, with possible eventual establishment of an Earth orbital space station.
Serkan Golge
Serkan Golge (Serkan Gölge) is a Turkish-American scientist who is currently imprisoned in Turkey. He worked as a full-time NASA contractor on NASA's proposed manned mission to Mars with an office next to the Mission Control Center. He graduated from Fatih University and received his Ph.D. in physics from Old Dominion University in 2010. He became a naturalized US citizen the same year.
Charles A. Beichman
Dr. Charles Beichman is the current executive director of NASA Exoplanet Science Institute (2003–Present), senior faculty associate at California Institute of Technology and an Astronomer. In 1975 Dr.Charles Beichman received an M.S in Astronomy from University of Hawaii, In 1976 he received an M.S in Physics from University of Hawaii and in 1979 he received a PhD in Astronomy. He has published numerous papers within his field, including research on exoplanets and Debris disks and is most notably credited with the discovery of a planetary system using IRAS.
Daniel Mulville
From January 1, 2000 to February 3, 2003, Mulville was the Associate Deputy Administrator, serving as the Administrator's most senior adviser. He reported directly to the Administrator and was responsible for planning, directing, and managing the daily operations and reinvention activities of the Agency. He served briefly as acting Administrator of NASA, starting on November 19, 2001, as the result of the resignation of Daniel Goldin. As an Associate Deputy Administrator, Mulville was the highest ranking NASA official at the time, due to the vacancy in the office of the Deputy Administrator. He oversaw NASA's daily operations until the new administrator, Sean O'Keefe was confirmed by the United States Senate on December 21, 2001.
Charles Bolden
On January 12, 2017, Bolden announced his resignation from NASA during a Town Hall meeting at NASA Headquarters in Washington D.C. His last day would be January 19, and Robert M. Lightfoot Jr. was announced as acting NASA Administrator.
Science Mission Directorate
The Science Mission Directorate also sponsors research that both enables, and is enabled by, NASA's exploration activities. The SMD portfolio is contributing to NASA’s achievement of the Vision for Space Exploration by striving to: Thomas Zurbuchen is the Associate Administrator for the Science Mission Directorate beginning October 3, 2016. Recent Associate Administrators for the SMD include Edward J. Weiler (1998–2004, 2008–2011), Mary L. Cleave (2004–2005), Alan Stern (2007–2008) and John M. Grunsfeld (2012-2016). Stern resigned 25 March 2008, to be effective 11 April, over disagreements with Administrator Michael D. Griffin.
2018 United States House of Representatives elections in Oklahoma
Bridenstine has become Administrator of NASA in the Donald Trump administration.
The 2nd district is located in the regions of Green Country and Kiamichi Country and includes the city of Muskogee and numerous sparsely populated counties. The incumbent is Republican Markwayne Mullin, who has represented the district since 2013. He was re-elected with 71% of the vote in 2016.
Marshall B. Webb
Marshall Bradley "Brad" Webb (born November 27, 1961) is a United States Air Force lieutenant general who currently serves as the Commander, U.S. Air Force Special Operations Command (AFSOC). Prior to his current assignment, he served as the Commander, NATO Special Operations Forces HQ. Previous to that assignment, he served as the Assistant Commanding General of Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC). As the Assistant Commanding General of JSOC, Webb was involved in the operation to kill Osama bin Laden. Webb was seated next to President Barack Obama in the White House Situation Room during the mission. He later served as Director of Plans, Programs, Requirements, and Assessments, U.S. Air Force Special Operations Command (AFSOC).
Donald Holmquest
Donald Lee Holmquest (born April 7, 1939) is an American lawyer, as well as a physician, electrical engineer and former NASA astronaut. He is currently the CEO of the California Regional Health Information Organization (RHIO).
George Nelson (astronaut)
Nelson left NASA in June 1989, became an assistant provost at the University of Washington, and now directs the Science, Mathematics and Technology Education program at Western Washington University in Bellingham. He is also the principal investigator of the North Cascades and Olympic Science Partnership, a mathematics and science partnership grant from the National Science foundation.
Epaminondas Stassinopoulos
Stassinopoulos was the principal investigator in 23 original research projects for NASA and he is the author or co-author of 146 papers and articles in peer-reviewed scientific, technical, and engineering journals and books; 31 special official NASA publications; and 154 NASA Technical Study, Research, and Analysis Publications in the field of space radiation. He was a co-founder of the Radiation Effects on Components and Systems (RADECS) organization in 1989 at the University of Montpellier 2, France. He served as the Chair of a NASA Headquarters-established "Charged Particle Radiation Panel" for the development of a NASA Engineering Standards for STS missions and as Chair of the US Government Consortium (NASA-NSA-NRL-USASDC) for the design and implementation of a fully automated "Irradiation Test and Research Facility" at the Department of Energy's Brookhaven National Laboratory.
James R. Thompson Jr.
James Robert Thompson Jr. (March 6, 1936 – November 7, 2017), known as J.R. Thompson, was the fifth director of the NASA Marshall Space Flight Center located in Huntsville, Alabama. He served as director from September 29, 1986, to July 6, 1989. Thompson also served as NASA's deputy director from July 6, 1989, to November 8, 1991.
Robin Henderson
Robin Neely Henderson is the Associate Director, Management, of the NASA Marshall Space Flight Center located in Huntsville, Alabama. She was named to become the center's Acting Director effective August 3, 2012, following the retirement of the previous director, Arthur E. Goldman, to take a private sector position. On September 25, 2012, NASA named Patrick Scheuermann as the center's new permanent director.
Gavin Schmidt
NASA named Schmidt to head GISS in June 2014. He stepped into the position left vacant after the retirement of long-time director James E. Hansen, becoming the third person to hold the post.
In an interview with Science News, Schmidt said that he wanted to continue the institute's work on climate modeling and to expand its work on climate impacts and astrobiology.
Holly Ridings
In September 2018 Ridings was announced as the chief flight director at NASA. She is responsible for 32 flight directors who are overseeing human spaceflight. She will oversee missions to the International Space Station, the Orion spacecraft as well as integrating trips of commercial crew spacecraft.
Carlos Del Castillo
Carlos Del Castillo (born c. 1965) is a scientist who, in 2004, became the recipient of the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE) award, the highest honor bestowed by the United States government on scientists and engineers beginning their independent careers. Del Castillo was the Program Scientist for the Ocean Biology and Biogeochemistry Program at NASA Headquarters, in Washington, D.C..
Stephen J. Mackwell
Stephen J. Mackwell returned to the United States in late 2002 as Director of the Lunar and Planetary Institute (LPI) in Houston, Texas. As Director of the LPI, a division of the Universities Space Research Association (USRA), Mackwell was at the helm of an organization established by NASA during the Apollo era to perform cutting-edge research on the formation and evolution of the Moon, planets, and other celestial objects; foster international collaboration; and to act as a repository for lunar and planetary information gathered during the early years of the space program. The LPI currently has nearly 70 staff members and performs many roles in service to NASA, the planetary science community, and the public at large. In addition, Mackwell managed USRA's Houston facility and education programs including the NASA Internships Program and the Air Force Research Laboratory Intern Program. In 2016, Dr. Louise Prockter became the Director of the LPI, and Mackwell was named as the USRA Corporate Director of Science Programs.
James R. French
French now works as a private space systems engineering consultant, and is a Fellow of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA). He has co-authored the book "Space Vehicle Design" () with Michael Griffin, who was the chief of NASA until January 20, 2009.
NASA Chief Scientist
The NASA chief scientist position was discontinued in September 2005 and many of the functions moved to be within the Science Mission Directorate (SMD).
World View Enterprises
Alan Stern, co-founder and Chief Scientist, was appointed NASA's Associate Administrator for the Science Mission Directorate, essentially NASA's top-ranking official for science, in April 2007. In this position Stern directed a US$4.4 billion organization with 93 separate flight missions and a program of over 3,000 research grants. He is also the principal investigator of the New Horizons mission to Pluto and the Chief Scientist at Moon Express.
List of Puerto Ricans in the United States Space Program
Executive Officer for the NASA Chief Scientist
National Institute of Aerospace
NIA is headed by Dr. Douglas O. Stanley, who was named interim to the post of president and executive director in July 2012. He succeeded Dr. Robert Lindberg, who became the first President and Executive Director in October 2003.
Michael D. Griffin
Griffin had worked at NASA prior to serving as NASA Administrator, including as Associate Administrator for Exploration. When he was nominated as NASA chief, he was head of the Space Department at the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) in Laurel, Maryland. While he describes himself modestly as a "simple aerospace engineer from a small town", Griffin has held several high-profile political appointments. In 2007 he was included in the TIME 100, the magazine's list of the 100 most influential people.
NASA
On December 4, 2006, NASA announced it was planning a permanent Moon base. The goal was to start building the Moon base by 2020, and by 2024, have a fully functional base that would allow for crew rotations and in-situ resource utilization. However, in 2009, the Augustine Committee found the program to be on an "unsustainable trajectory." In 2010, President Barack Obama halted existing plans, including the Moon base, and directed a generic focus on manned missions to asteroids and Mars, as well as extending support for the International Space Station.
Charles Bolden
In 2009, President Obama appointed Bolden to be administrator of NASA.
Maria Zuber
Maria T. Zuber (born June 27, 1958) is a member of the National Science Board and the Vice President for Research at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where she also holds the position of the E. A. Griswold Professor of Geophysics in the Department of Earth, Atmospheric and Planetary Sciences. Zuber has been involved in more than half a dozen NASA planetary missions aimed at mapping the Moon, Mars, Mercury, and several asteroids. She is currently the principal investigator for the Gravity Recovery and Interior Laboratory (GRAIL) Mission, which is managed by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory.
Stewart Nozette
Stewart David Nozette (born May 20, 1957) is an American planetary scientist, technologist, and consultant who worked for the United States Department of Energy, the United States Department of Defense, DARPA, the United States Naval Research Laboratory, and NASA. He is also a convicted felon for attempted espionage and fraud against the United States. The FBI arrested him October 19, 2009, charging him with attempted espionage after a sting operation which Nozette's lawyer claims amounted to entrapment. At trial, Nozette admitted attempting to sell U.S. classified information to someone he believed was an Israeli Mossad operative, but was in reality an undercover Federal Bureau of Investigation employee. He pleaded guilty to one charge of attempted espionage and was sentenced, under the terms of a plea bargain, to thirteen years in prison. He is currently serving time at the Federal Correctional Institution, Terre Haute. The FBI found no evidence that any classified materials were actually released to anyone outside the US Government.
John F. Kennedy
In constructing his Presidential administration, Kennedy elected to retain Eisenhower's last science advisor Jerome Wiesner as head of the President's Science Advisory Committee. Wiesner was strongly opposed to manned space exploration, having issued a report highly critical of Project Mercury. Kennedy was turned down by seventeen candidates for NASA administrator before the post was accepted by James E. Webb, an experienced Washington insider who served President Truman as budget director and undersecretary of state. Webb proved to be adept at obtaining the support of Congress, the President, and the American people. Kennedy also persuaded Congress to amend the National Aeronautics and Space Act to allow him to delegate his chairmanship of the National Aeronautics and Space Council to the Vice President,
Lunar outpost (NASA)
Buzz Aldrin, the second of twelve men to have walked on the Moon, disagrees with NASA's current goals and priorities, including their plans for a lunar outpost. While not necessarily opposed to sending people back to the Moon, Aldrin argues that NASA should concentrate on a crewed mission to Mars and leave further lunar exploration and the establishment of a base there to a consortium of other countries under U.S. leadership. In a July 2009 editorial in the "Washington Post", he said that NASA's Vision for Space Exploration "is not visionary; nor will it ultimately be successful in restoring American space leadership. Like its Apollo predecessor, this plan will prove to be a dead end littered with broken spacecraft, broken dreams and broken policies." He continued by saying that
Lori Garver
Lori Beth Garver (born May 22, 1961 in Lansing, Michigan) is the former Deputy Administrator of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). She was nominated on May 24, 2009, by President Barack Obama, along with Charles Bolden as NASA Administrator. She was confirmed by the United States Senate by unanimous consent on July 15, 2009. She left the position in September 2013 to become General Manager of the Air Line Pilots Association.
Frederick D. Gregory
Gregory served at NASA Headquarters as Associate Administrator for the Office of Safety and Mission Assurance (1992–2001), and was Associate Administrator for the Office of Space Flight (2001–2002). On August 12, 2002 Mr. Gregory was sworn in as NASA Deputy Administrator. In that role, he was responsible to the Administrator for providing overall leadership, planning, and policy direction for the Agency. The Deputy Administrator performs the duties and exercises the powers delegated by the Administrator, assists the Administrator in making final Agency decisions, and acts for the Administrator in his or her absence by performing all necessary functions to govern NASA operations and exercise the powers vested in the Agency by law. The Deputy Administrator articulates the Agency's vision and represents NASA to the Executive Office of the President, Congress, heads of Federal and other appropriate Government agencies, international organizations, and external organizations and communities. From the departure of Sean O'Keefe on February 20, 2005, to the swearing in of Michael D. Griffin on April 14, 2005, he was the NASA Acting Administrator. He returned to the post of Deputy Administrator and on September 9, 2005, submitted his resignation. He was replaced on November 29, 2005 by Shana Dale.
Bonnie J. Dunbar
Bonnie Jeanne Dunbar (born March 3, 1949) is a former NASA astronaut. She retired from NASA in September 2005 then served as president and CEO of The Museum of Flight until April 2010. From January 2013 - December 2015, Dr. Dunbar lead the University of Houston's STEM Center (science, technology, engineering and math) and was a faculty member in the Cullen College of Engineering. Currently, she is a professor of aerospace engineering at Texas A&M University and serves as Director of the Institute for Engineering Education and Innovation (IEEI), a joint entity in the Texas A&M Engineering Experiment Station (TEES) and the Dwight Look College of Engineering at Texas A&M University.
Mamta Patel Nagaraja
Mamta Patel Nagaraja is an American engineer. She has degrees in aerospace engineering, mechanical engineering and biomedical engineering. During her career at NASA, Nagaraja trained astronauts and operated as one of NASA’s certified flight controllers for the communications system of their Mission Control Center. In 2011, Nagaraja was awarded NASA’s Exceptional Service Medal. She is currently Project Manager for the Women at Nasa project. The project is a joint initiative between NASA and the White House Council on Women and Girls aimed at inspiring other women and young girls to pursue careers in science, technology, engineering and math.
Mary Nolan (politician)
Nolan is the chair of the NASA industry advisory council. In the 2010 election for governor of Oregon, Nolan endorsed John Kitzhaber, the Democratic former Governor of Oregon. The Kitzhaber campaign released this statement:
Chief of the Astronaut Office
The Chief of the Astronaut Office is the most senior leadership position for active astronauts at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). The Chief Astronaut serves as head of the NASA Astronaut Corps and is the principal advisor to the NASA Administrator on astronaut training and operations.
Robert Curbeam
Robert Lee Curbeam, Jr. (born March 5, 1962) is a former NASA astronaut and captain in the United States Navy.
NASA Chief Scientist
The Chief Scientist is the most senior science position at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). The Chief Scientist serves as the principal advisor to the NASA Administrator in science issues and as interface to the national and international science community, ensuring that NASA research programs are scientifically and technologically well founded and are appropriate for their intended applications.
William H. Gerstenmaier
William H. Gerstenmaier (born September 1954) is the current Associate Administrator for Human Exploration and Operations for NASA, holding this position since 2005. He has been described as "arguably the most influential person when it comes to US spaceflight." Prior to being Associate Administrator, Gerstenmaier served as the International Space Station Office Program Manager, at Johnson Space Center, a position he began in June 2002.
Charles Bolden
On January 12, 2017, Bolden announced his resignation from NASA during a town hall meeting at NASA Headquarters in Washington D.C. His last day would be January 19, and Robert M. Lightfoot Jr. was announced as acting NASA Administrator.
Lesa Roe
Lesa B. Roe is an American aerospace engineer who currently serves as the Chancellor of the University of North Texas System. Prior to becoming chancellor, Roe served as the Acting Deputy Administrator of NASA from January 20, 2017 to September 30, 2017, and was the Deputy Associate Administrator from May 1, 2014 to September 30, 2017. Roe has also served as the Director of NASA Langley Research Center from 2005 to 2014, the first woman to hold that position. She previously served as the center's Deputy Director from June 2004 until being named Director in October 2005. Roe in totality served 32 years at NASA, managed the employment of over 17,000 employees with a budget of 19.6 billion.
James Webb Space Telescope
The JWST originated in 1996 as the Next Generation Space Telescope (NGST). In 2002 it was renamed after NASA's second administrator (1961–1968) James E. Webb (1906–1992), noted for playing a key role in the Apollo program and establishing scientific research as a core NASA activity. The JWST is a project of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, the United States space agency, with international collaboration from the European Space Agency and the Canadian Space Agency.
Victoria Nuland
Victoria Jane Nuland (born July 1, 1961) is the CEO of the Center for a New American Security, (CNAS), and former Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs at the United States Department of State. She held the rank of Career Ambassador, the highest diplomatic rank in the United States Foreign Service. She became CEO of CNAS on January 9, 2018. The Center is a bipartisan think tank. in Washington DC. Nuland is also the Brady-Johnson Distinguished Practitioner in Grand Strategy at Yale University, and a Member of the Board of the National Endowment for Democracy.
Gregory H. Johnson
Gregory Harold "Box" Johnson (born May 12, 1962) is a NASA astronaut and a retired colonel in the United States Air Force. Johnson is a veteran of two space flights, STS-123 and STS-134. He served as pilot on his first mission, which delivered the Kibo logistics module and the Dextre robot arm to the International Space Station. Johnson was also assigned as the pilot to the STS-134 mission, which launched on May 16, 2011 and landed on June 1, 2011. Greg Johnson has also served in numerous roles for NASA including as a Capcom for several missions. At present time Gregory H. Johnson (Colonel, USAF, Ret.) is the President and Executive Director for the Center for the Advancement of Science in Space (CASIS).
G. Scott Hubbard
G. Scott Hubbard is an adjunct professor at Stanford University in the department of aeronautics and astronautics and has been engaged in space-related research as well as program, project and executive management for more than 40 years including 20 years with NASA, culminating as director of NASA’s Ames Research Center. Currently, Scott Hubbard chairs SpaceX Safety Advisory Panel, he previously served as the NASA representative on the Columbia Accident Investigation Board, was NASA’s first Mars program director and restructured the Mars program in the wake of mission failures.
Arthur E. Goldman
Arthur Eugene "Gene" Goldman (born November 10, 1953) is the executive director for Aerojet's Southeast Space Operations division. Before retiring from NASA in August 2012, he last served as acting director of the Marshall Space Flight Center located in Huntsville, Alabama. He was appointed as acting director effective March 5, 2012, following the promotion of the previous director, Robert M. Lightfoot, Jr., to Acting Associate Administrator of NASA.
Langley Research Center
In June 2015, after previously serving as associate director, then deputy director, Dr. David E. Bowles was appointed director of NASA Langley.
United States Space Force
The current proposal is supported by current NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine, who has stated that it is critical to defending the United States' energy grid and GPS network. Other supporters include former Air Force Colonel and astronaut Buzz Aldrin, former Air Force Colonel and astronaut Terry Virts, former Marine Corps Colonel and astronaut Jack R. Lousma, former astronaut David Wolf, former astronaut Clayton Anderson, space mogul Elon Musk, and astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson.