viyh notes that President Obama has named former astronaut Charles F. Bolden Jr. as NASA administrator. Obama’s campaign space adviser, Lori Garver, will be Bolden’s deputy. Bolden flew four shuttle missions, two as commander, as well as 100 combat missions over Viet Nam. If confirmed, Bolden will take over an agency uncertain of its direction. The shuttle Atlantis’s landing will mark the end of the servicing era — it was the last planned mission to repair any satellite. Some inside the agency are less than happy about how NASA’s future looks from here.
via Slashdot