NASA

1958 300 E St. SW, Washington, DC 20546 202-358-0000 $14.3 billion 18,884 NASA conducts research and develops operational programs in the areas of aeronautics, space exploration, artificial satellites, and rocketry in an effort to advance space flight, aeronautics, space science, and space applications. NASA operates the space shuttle, administers all space science programs, and launches approximately half of all military space missions. Administrator 202-358-1010 "I am in terrible shape," Goldin said one recent morning. A nasty encounter with poison oak during a mountain hike had forced him to veto his normal cowboy boots that day in favor of sandals that were easier on his damaged feet. "I feel like a hippie," he chuckled, in his native Bronx accent. Goldin, 60, calls himself a risk taker, a description that's appropriate for NASA's longest-serving administrator. He is widely credited with pulling the agency out of a bureaucratic black hole and is probably best known for his "faster, better, cheaper" mantra, a philosophy that has defined the agency over much of Goldin's nine years there. Along the way he has dealt with stagnant budgets, failed Mars missions, and the politics surrounding the International Space Station. Goldin, a City College of New York graduate who spent 25 years as a TRW space executive, is often portrayed as a brilliant yet volatile leader. Whether he'll continue to lead NASA is still up in the air; Goldin will say only, "I serve at the pleasure of the President." But as long as he stays at the helm, Goldin will follow certain traditions; such as putting on an old Bronx hat just before every launch. "I feel it makes the launch safe," he says. He ranks "putting a contact lens on the Hubble" as his proudest accomplishment, referring to the 1993 space walk mission that fixed the foggy images from the space telescope. His biggest disappointment: Not sending people to Mars. Goldin comes alive when discussing his goal of seeing a manned Mars mission in his lifetime. "In no less than 10 and no more than 20 years, we are going to see an American space suit with an American flag step down on Mars," he said. "And my life will be complete." Associate Administrator for Public Affairs 202-358-1898 Like a rocket, Brown has ascended to the top post at NASA's Office of Public Affairs, and in two and a half months on the job, he's already had to deal with project cancellations, cost overruns, and space station tourism. But Brown, 49, is no novice: He has more than 20 years of communications experience, most recently as a vice president of Washington-based Walls Communications. He worked for the George H.W. Bush Administration, first as the Federal Transit Administration's director of public affairs, and then as the deputy director of the Office of External Affairs in the U.S. Agency for International Development. In the mid-1980s, Brown lived in Saudi Arabia for four years, doing public relations for three firms, including Tihama, one of the largest PR companies in the Middle East. He also met his wife there. "It was an extremely unique experience," he said. "What surprised me [about Saudi Arabia] was how much Saudis know and understand about our culture and how little we know and understand theirs." Brown, a native of Kansas City, Mo., earned a B.A. in communications from the University of Houston. decision makers