NASA at 50: Interviews with NASA Senior Leadership / Rebecca Wright, Sandra Johnson, Steven J
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data NASA at 50: interviews with NASA senior leadership / Rebecca Wright, Sandra Johnson, Steven J. Dick, editors. p. cm. 1. Aerospace engineers—United States—Interviews. 2. United States. National Aeronautics and Space Administration—History—Sources. I. Wright, Rebecca II. Johnson, Sandra L. III. Dick, Steven J. IV. Title: NASA at fifty. NASA SP-2012-4114 TL539.N36 2011 629.40973—dc22 2009054448 ISBN 978-0-16-091447-8 F ro as el t yb eh S epu ir tn e edn tn fo D co mu e tn .U s S G , . evo r emn tn P ir tn i O gn eciff I tn re en :t skoob t ro e . opg . vog enohP : lot l f eer ( 668 ) 215 - 0081 ; D C a er ( a 202 ) 215 - 0081 90000 aF :x ( 202 ) 215 - 4012 aM :li S t I po CCD W , ihsa gn t no D , C 20402 - 1000 ISBN 978-0-16-091447-8 9 780160 914478 ISBN 978-0-16-091447-8 F ro leas b y t eh S pu e ri tn e dn e tn D fo co mu e tn s , .U Svo . e G r mn e tn P ri tn i gn fficeO I tn er en t: koob s t ro e. opg . vog : Plot l nohf ree e ( 668 ) 215 - 0081 ; C Da re a ( 202 ) 215 - 0081 90000 Fa :x ( 202 ) 215 - 4012 il:M S a t po DCI C, W a hs i gn t no , D C 20402 - 1000 ISBN 978-0-16-091447-8 9 780160 914478 Rebecca Wright Sandra Johnson Steven J. Dick Editors National Aeronautics and Space Administration Office of Communications Public Outreach Division NASA History Program Office Washington, DC NASA SP-2012-4114 . Table of Contents Introduction // Steven J. Dick, NASA Chief Historian ............................... vii PART I: NASA Headquarters Chapter 1 // Michael D. Griffin Administrator ............................................................................................... 1 Chapter 2 // Shana L. Dale Deputy Administrator ................................................................................. 24 Chapter 3 // Rex D. Geveden Associate Administrator ...............................................................................38 Chapter 4 // Charles H. Scales Associate Deputy Administrator ...................................................................50 Chapter 5 // Bryan D. O’Connor Chief, Office of Safety and Mission Assurance .............................................58 Chapter 6 // Christopher J. Scolese Associate Administrator/Former Chief Engineer ..........................................74 Chapter 7 // Scott N. Pace Associate Administrator for Program Analysis and Evaluation ..................88 Chapter 8 // William H. Gerstenmaier Associate Administrator for Space Operations ...........................................106 Chapter 9 // Scott J. Horowitz Associate Administrator for Exploration Systems .......................................118 Chapter 10 // S. Alan Stern Associate Administrator for Science ...........................................................130 Chapter 11 // Jaiwon Shin Associate Administrator for Aeronautics Research ....................................144 Chapter 12 // Michael F. O’Brien Assistant Administrator for External Relations .........................................154 Chapter 13 // Robert W. Cobb Inspector General for NASA .......................................................................164 Chapter 14 // J. T. Jezierski Deputy Chief of Staff, White House Liaison................................................174 v NASA at 50 PART II: NASA Centers Chapter 15 // S. Pete Worden Center Director, Ames Research Center ......................................................188 Chapter 16 // Kevin L. Petersen Center Director, Dryden Flight Research Center ....................................... 200 Chapter 17 // Woodrow Whitlow, Jr. Center Director, Glenn Research Center ....................................................206 Chapter 18 // Edward J. Weiler Center Director, Goddard Space Flight Center ...........................................216 Chapter 19 // Charles Elachi Center Director, Jet Propulsion Laboratory ............................................... 232 Chapter 20 // Michael L. Coats Center Director, Johnson Space Center ......................................................246 Chapter 21 // William W. Parsons Center Director, Kennedy Space Center .................................................... 260 Chapter 22 // Lesa B. Roe Center Director, Langley Research Center ................................................. 274 Chapter 23 // David A. King Center Director, Marshall Space Flight Center ...........................................282 Chapter 24 // Richard J. Gilbrech Center Director, Stennis Space Center ....................................................... 292 Index ....................................................................................................... 311 The NASA History Series ...................................................................... 335 vi Introduction The 50th anniversary of NASA on 1 October 2008 found an agency in the midst of deep transition. In the closing year of the presidency of George W. Bush, only a month before the presidential election and in the midst of a worldwide economic crisis, the Agency was implementing a new Vision for Space Exploration intended to return humans to the Moon, to proceed onward to Mars, and to study the cosmos beyond. All of this was to be done not with new funding, but by ramping down the Space Shuttle Program that had been the centerpiece of human space- flight for three decades and ramping up a new program known collectively as Constellation. The immediate elements of Constellation were a new launch vehicle, Ares I; an “Apollo on steroids” human capsule dubbed Orion; and the lunar lander Altair. Huge decisions were being made that would likely affect the Agency for decades to come. In short, a new era of spaceflight was dawning—or at least that was NASA’s fondest hope. It was in this milieu that the History Division at NASA Headquarters com- missioned oral history interviews to be undertaken with NASA senior manage- ment. This volume is the result and provides a snapshot of the thinking of NASA senior leadership on the occasion of its 50th anniversary and in the midst of these sea changes. It is all the more valuable from an historical point of view because of the large changes that have again taken place since the 50th anni- versary. Since the interviews could not be done instantaneously, this volume is the result of conversations recorded during 2007 and 2008. The interviews were facilitated by Rebecca Wright and Sandra Johnson of the Johnson Space Center (JSC) in Houston, and the whole program was under my guidance as the NASA Chief Historian at Headquarters in Washington, DC. Recordings and transcripts are available at JSC and Headquarters and are now part of the Agency’s consid- erable oral history efforts of the past several decades. The reader of this volume may also wish to consult a companion volume in the NASA History series, NASA’s First 50 Years: Historical Perspectives, the proceedings of NASA’s 50th anniversary conference. There the reader will find in-depth critical analysis from a variety of scholars of the diverse array of NASA’s activities from 1958 to the present. Steven J. Dick NASA Chief Historian December 2009 vii . Chapter 1 Michael D. Griffin Administrator Mike Griffin became the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Administrator on 14 April 2005, a position he had been “aiming” for his entire life. Griffin’s interest in space first began when his mother gave him A Child’s Book of Stars when he was five years old. He was so fascinated by the book’s scientific material that he became enamored with space and did not want to do anything else. The interest continued, and a few years later, when Sputnik launched, Griffin remembers being the only student in his third-grade class who knew what it was and why it was important; he explained it all to his teacher. By the time he became a teenager, Griffin had realized that he saw the bigger picture, saw how things connected and related, and began to feel like a leadership position was something that he could aspire to, so he used that goal to shape his career. Although he has described himself modestly as a “simple aerospace engineer from a small town,” Griffin was not. He served in a number of high-profile jobs with various prominent companies, organizations, and universities. When asked to become the NASA Administrator, he was 55 and serving as head of the Space Department at Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory. This interview, conducted on 10 September 2007 at NASA Headquarters, began with Griffin talk- ing about his reasons for assuming this leadership role that he held from April 2005 until January 2009. Nearby was a framed display containing the book that inspired his life’s dream. I would not have just accepted the position of NASA Administrator merely because it was offered. I was at a prestigious university laboratory in a very comfortable situation and enjoyed it quite a lot. If NASA had been following the plan that the Agency was following prior to the loss of Columbia [STS- 107] and President George W. Bush’s announcement of the Vision for Space Exploration, I honestly don’t think I would have been interested. Taking this job is a substantial financial sacrifice and an enormous personal sacrifice. I see my family way less often than I want, and I pursue my hobbies with less vigor than I used to. You give up a lot to accept a senior position in public service. 1 NASA at 50 But I think and have thought for decades that the proper purpose of the United States civil space program is pretty much along the lines