Keep Mike: Week Two
Transition Watch: Petitioning at NASA, Federal Times
“But despite these obvious roadblocks, this reporter wonders if Rebecca Griffin won’t be successful in the end. After all, in recent years there have been a few successful online campaigns. For example, in 2007, the fans for the now-cancelled show “Jericho” used an online appeal to convince CBS to keep the program on the air for another season. And a couple of New York Mets fans started an online petition to save the team’s giant homerun apple from the scrapheap or auction block after the team moves from Shea Stadium to the new Citi Field this spring. The Star-Ledger reports that the apple will be on display at Citi Field. If television and sports fans can meet with such success, surely fans of the NASA administrator can mount a successful campaign…right?”
Utahn petitioning Obama to keep current NASA administrator (with video!), KSL
“In the coming weeks, Horowitz will send the signatures to the president-elect; he’ll also personally take copies to Capitol Hill. Horowitz says it’s a small trip, considering the trip this country is capable of with Griffin at the helm. “I truly believe without his leadership NASA will have a hard time returning to the moon and going to Mars,” Horowitz said.”
Editor’s note: “Signatures”, Doc? On some pages, one third of the names are “Anonymous”, many are fake (“Frank Poole”, “Heywood Floyd”, “Delos D. Harriman” etc.), and none of them can be verified. All you have to do is log in and log out at Starbucks and you get get a new IP each time. Oh well.
NASA: Mike Griffin out, Charlie Bolden in?, Orlando Sentinel
“Some of his closest friends and supporters, including his wife, Rebecca Griffin, and former astronaut Scot Horowitz, launched a campaign to try to convince the incoming administration to keep Griffin, a veteran rocket scientist. The sometimes heavy-handed effort ranged from soliciting members of Congress during the last space shuttle launch at Kennedy Space Center, to a much publicized on-line petition and even an e-mail from Rebecca urging that her husband be retained. But Beltway insiders say the effort backfired and even some of Griffin’s most ardent supporters on the Hill, like Florida’s senior senator, Democrat Bill Nelson, saw the lobbying as craven.”
Boosters of Incumbent NASA Head May Be Doing Him No Favors, Congressional Quarterly
“Scott Horowitz, a former astronaut and associate NASA administrator, has been circulating a petition to keep Griffin on board. And just before Christmas, Griffin’s wife sent out an e-mail to friends urging them to sign the same document. “This strikes me as pretty unusual, especially to be so public. There’s nothing about what I’ve read or heard that would seem to help Griffin’s chances of being retained,” said David Goldston, former staff director of the House Science Committee under Sherwood Boehlert, R-N.Y. “Administrations generally, and this one in particular, seem to recoil at being put in a box publicly.”
Ex-astronaut emerges as NASA prospect, MSNBC
“Sources involved in the White House transition said Bolden was under consideration for the NASA post, but they did not indicate that a final decision had been made. The sources spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss details of the selection process publicly.”
Editor’s note: All of the people mentioned in these articles as Administrator candidates have expressed overt disinterest in the job at one point or another. Bolden has made statements that no one in an official or unofficial capacity has approached him on the topic. Then again, people can change their minds.
Bolden is widely admired – indeed, Sean O’Keefe wanted him to be his deputy until Donald Rumsfeld made that impossible. Of course, it should not be a surprise that Bill Nelson is promoting Bolden – they both flew on STS-61C.
At this point, of all the names floated in these articles, only Scott Hubbard has been seeking the job albeit quietly. Hubbard got a gold star from NASA Watch for his defense of his workforce as Mike Griffin eviscerated it.
As for who will be acting Administrator when Mike Griffin leaves, that has not been decided yet. But Mike Griffin is indeed leaving NASA, folks. His antics of late have simply served to make this a certainty.
Stay tuned.
