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Michael Griffin takes the helm as NASA administrator NASA NEWS RELEASE Posted: April 14, 2005 Michael D. Griffin reported to work today as NASA's 11th Administrator. Administrator Griffin becomes the leader of the agency on the day the Expedition 11 crew is set to launch to the International Space Station. The Administrator was confirmed late Wednesday night by the U.S. Senate. An official swearing-in ceremony will be scheduled later.
During his confirmation hearing Tuesday before the U.S. Senate, the Administrator stated his priorities, consistent with the President's Vision for Space Exploration will be: * Fly the Space Shuttle as safely as possible until its retirement, not later than 2010 * Bring a new Crew Exploration Vehicle into service as soon as possible after the Space Shuttle is retired * Develop a balanced overall program of science, exploration and aeronautics at NASA, consistent with the redirection of the human spaceflight program to focus on exploration * Complete the International Space Station in a manner consistent with our international partner commitments and the needs of human exploration * Encourage the pursuit of appropriate partnerships with the emerging commercial space sector * Establish a lunar return program having the maximum possible utility for later missions to Mars and other destinations President George W. Bush nominated Griffin as NASA Administrator in March, while he was serving as the Space Department Head at Johns Hopkins University's Applied Physics Laboratory in Baltimore. Griffin was President and Chief Operating Officer of In-Q-Tel, Inc., before joining Johns Hopkins in April 2004. He also served in several positions within Orbital Sciences Corporation, Dulles, Va., including Chief Executive Officer of Magellan Systems, Inc. Earlier in his career, Administrator Griffin served as Chief Engineer at NASA and as Deputy for Technology at the Strategic Defense Initiative Organization. He has served as an adjunct professor at the University of Maryland, Johns Hopkins University and George Washington University. He taught courses in spacecraft design, applied mathematics, guidance and navigation, compressible flow, computational fluid dynamics, spacecraft attitude control, astrodynamcis and introductory aerospace engineering. He is the lead author of more than two dozen technical papers, as well as the textbook, Space Vehicle Design. A registered professional engineer in Maryland and California, the Administrator is a fellow of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA). He is a recipient of the NASA Exceptional Achievement Medal, the AIAA Space Systems Medal and the Department of Defense Distinguished Public Service Medal, the highest award given to a non-government employee. He is a certified flight instructor with instrument and multiengine ratings He received a bachelor's degree in Physics from Johns Hopkins University; a master's degree in Aerospace Science from Catholic University of America; a Ph.D. in Aerospace Engineering from the University of Maryland; a master's degree in Electrical Engineering from the University of Southern California; a master's degree in Applied Physics from Johns Hopkins University; a master's degree in Business Administration from Loyola College; and a master's degree in Civil Engineering from George Washington University.
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During his first day on the job, Michael Griffin, NASA's new administrator, addresses agency employees and answers questions on a variety of topics on April 14. (28min 50sec file)
Nominated to become the new administrator of NASA, Michael Griffin gives an opening statement to a Senate committee about his thoughts on the agency. (6min 38sec file)
Senators ask a wide range of questions to NASA administrator nominee Michael Griffin concerning the future exploration, the space shuttle and space station programs, Hubble servicing options and aeronautics funding. (27min 06sec file)
This retrospective captures the first space shuttle flight from Columbia's delivery to Kennedy Space Center in 1979, assembly and rollout to the launch pad, its safe ascent to orbit on April 12, 1981 and return to Earth two days later.
Historical footage documents the flight of cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin, the first human in space. (2min 25sec file)
Space shuttle Discovery begins its 4.2-mile journey from the Vehicle Assembly Building to launch pad 39B atop the Apollo-era crawler-transporter. (10min 30sec file)
Shuttle Discovery makes its way down the crawlerway under beautiful Florida skies. (5min 00sec file)
The transporter reaches the point where the crawlerway splits into two paths to the Complex 39 pads and makes the turn for pad 39B. (7min 11sec file)
As viewed from the Vehicle Assembly Building, space shuttle Discovery rolls northward and past launch pad 39A in the background. (4min 23sec file)
Discovery's rollout enters the early evening as the shuttle heads north toward launch pad 39B. (6min 15sec file)
This time lapse movie shows shuttle Discovery rolling up the ramp and arriving at launch pad 39B after the 10.5-hour trip from the VAB. (3min 32sec file)
The gantry-like Rotating Service Structure to moved around Discovery to enclose the orbiter just before sunrise, a couple of hours after the shuttle reached the pad, as seen is time lapse movie. (1min 26sec file)
A preview of Discovery's STS-114 flight is presented in this narrated movie about the shuttle return to flight mission. (10min 15sec file)
The impact to the International Space Station by this two-year grounding of the space shuttle fleet in the wake of Columbia is examined in this narrated movie. (6min 46sec file)
Take a behind-the-scenes look at the seven astronauts who will fly aboard the space shuttle return-to-flight mission in this movie that profiles the lives of the STS-114 crew. (10min 04sec file)
