The New York Times Is Still Not Happy With NASA

Nominees for the Space Agency, NY Times
“Unfortunately, General Bolden lacks deep expertise in space science and engineering and his past ties with the aerospace industry will raise conflict of interest problems. Before the Senate confirms him, it should probe how well fitted he is to guide the agency through a difficult transition from the space shuttle to follow-on vehicles designed to reach the Moon and beyond. … Although he has an undergraduate degree in electrical engineering and a master’s in systems management, his skills are primarily operational. He lacks the deep technical expertise that enabled the previous administrator, Michael Griffin, to second-guess NASA’s own experts and those from industry.”
Editor’s note: When it comes to NASA, there’s just no satisfying the NY Times, it would seem. Let’s peer into their (anonymous) shallow, drive-by analysis. Tick tick tick – Oops, I find a flaw: Sean O’Keefe – with admittedly zero technical expertise – guided the VSE from nothing to Presidential and Congressional endorsement. Yet uber techie Mike Griffin was handed the VSE on a silver platter, took the Shuttle/Orion gap, made it longer, and then fumbled by designing a rocket that is still not fully out of PDR after 3 years and in danger of cancellation. If Griffin made a “second guess” it certainly was not the right one.