NASA chief Bridenstine plans to resign, not to join Biden administration

NASA administrator Jim Bridenstine has said he will not remain as head of the agency under a Biden administration, even if the president-elect asks him to.

Bridenstine, a Republican, represented Oklahoma’s first congressional district before President Donald Trump appointed him as head of NASA. But he stressed that his resignation plan is not based on party membership. On the contrary, Bridenstine said, he would do it to ensure the agency’s next executive could be someone with a long-term relationship with Biden.

“The correct question here is,” What is in the best interest of NASA as an agency, and what is in the best interest of the US exploration program? “” Bridenstine told Aviation Week. “For that you need someone who has a close relationship with the President of the United States. You need someone who can be trusted by the administration.

“I think I would not be the right person for this in a new administration,” he added.

Since Trump hired Bridenstine to lead NASA in April 2018, the agency has announced its Artemis program, which now aims to send the first woman and next man to the moon by 2024. The program also aims to establish a lasting human presence on the lunar surface in 2028. (The last time people walked on the moon was in December 1972.)

Bridenstine also encouraged the development of commercial spaceflight in the United States. During his tenure, SpaceX completed its first crewed mission in partnership with NASA – a result of the agency’s Commercial Crew program, which began under the Obama administration. The launch of Crew-1, SpaceX / NASA’s first routine mission, is scheduled for this Saturday (the summer’s was considered a demonstration).

Going forward, SpaceX and Boeing are expected to transport NASA astronauts to and from the International Space Station at least eight times in total. Other private companies are also competing to develop spacecraft capable of landing goods and people on the lunar surface.

While leading NASA, Bridenstine also oversaw the launch of the Mars Perseverance rover in July and the success of the Osiris-Rex spacecraft touchdown and sample collection on the asteroid Bennu.

Biden’s priorities differ from Trump’s in several key ways, according to Reuters. Biden will likely push back the Artemis mission timeline by several years. He is also expected to propose expanding US funding for the space station instead of handing over control to private space companies by 2025, which the Trump administration had planned to do.

The Biden administration, however, will likely continue to promote competition between companies like SpaceX and Boeing for space flight contracts.

Full details of Biden’s program for NASA are not yet fully known. The president-elect wrote in August that he hopes to lead “a daring space program that will continue to send hero astronauts to expand our frontiers of exploration and science.”

Bridenstine said he was optimistic about the future of space exploration under Biden – especially when it comes to sending astronauts to the moon.

“We are in a good position as a country. If you look at the bipartisan, non-political support that we have from members of Congress on both sides of the aisle… there is strong support for Artemis,” Bridenstine said. at Aviation Week.