Smooth confirmation process seen for NASA nominee

The Bush administration has nominated Johns Hopkins University physicist Michael D. Griffin to serve as the 11th administrator of NASA.

If confirmed by the Senate, Griffin will succeed Sean O'Keefe, who returned to his home state last month to become chancellor of Louisiana State University.

The Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation has not announced when it will hold confirmation hearings, but Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, R-Texas, said she hopes for a "smooth nomination process."

Lawmakers and interest groups quickly lined up to support Griffin, saying his nomination reaffirms the administration's commitment to President Bush's ambitious vision of a return to the moon and a future human expedition to Mars.

It is not clear whether Griffin will be installed in his post by May 15, the day NASA plans to launch Discovery, the first space shuttle mission in more than two years.

Shuttles have been grounded since Feb. 1, 2003, when Columbia and seven astronauts were lost while returning to Earth.

Griffin is a veteran aerospace engineer whose federal service includes two stints at NASA, one as chief engineer and another as associate administrator for space exploration during the presidency of George H.W. Bush. Griffin also served as deputy director for technology in the Strategic Defense Initiative Organization.

He currently oversees 600 scientists in the space department of the Applied Physics Laboratory at Johns Hopkins University in Laurel, Md. Before joining APL, Griffin was president and chief operating officer of In-Q-Tel, a nonprofit group funded by the CIA to invest in companies developing cutting-edge national security technologies.

Griffin's long résumé also includes several executive positions within Orbital Sciences Corp.

He holds seven degrees in physics, electrical engineering, aerospace engineering, civil engineering and business administration.

Griffin calls himself an "unabashed" supporter of space exploration, especially by humans. He told a House Science Committee hearing in October 2003 that he believed human space flight is the most significant activity in which the United States is engaged.

In 2004, he co-chaired an independent study for the Planetary Society that advocated retiring the space shuttle earlier than 2010, the date now planned, and speeding up development of a crew exploration vehicle that can travel beyond low-Earth orbit into interplanetary space for many months at a time.

Several lawmakers and interest groups applauded Griffin's nomination. They praised his academic credentials, technical background, prior government service and private sector successes.

"He has broad expertise, knows NASA inside and out, and is an imaginative and creative thinker and leader," said Rep. Sherwood Boehlert, R-N.Y., chairman of the House Science Committee. Committee Democrats also welcomed Griffin. "He has earned a reputation for technical expertise, managerial competence and integrity. He will need all of those attributes in his new position," said ranking member Rep. Bart Gordon, D-Tenn.

The chairman of the House Subcommittee on Space and Aeronautics said President Bush could not have made a better selection. Griffin's background, said Rep. Ken Calvert, R-Calif., "is just what NASA needs as we move forward with the president's vision, commercial human space flight, unmanned robotic space exploration and returning the shuttle to flight."

The National Space Society, the Mars Society, the Planetary Society, the Space Foundation, the Coalition for Space Exploration and the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics all lined up to support him.

"The challenge to Dr. Griffin will be in reshaping NASA so the agency is indeed relevant and meaningful, and articulating a persuasive, nonpartisan political imperative for the agency that all Americans can rally behind," said Elliot Pulham, president and chief executive officer of the Colorado-based Space Foundation.

The confirmation process is expected to take several weeks. In any event, NASA will not be leaderless for the shuttle's scheduled return to flight. Deputy Administrator Frederick Gregory, a former astronaut, is the agency's interim administrator.