While You Were Away: NASA's Next Administrator/Deputy Administrator Revealed

Keith's update: In case you were on vacation in August we posted this story about the names of the next Administrator and Deputy Administrator of NASA on 15 August. Other prominent publications of noticed. Apparently the writers at Space News were on vacation and missed this story.

The Deputy #NASA Admin position was decided a month ago. Administrator was decided upon a week or so later. Formal announcement in Sept

— NASA Watch (@NASAWatch) August 15, 2017

Oh yes Jim Bridenstine = #NASA Administrator and John Schumacher = Deputy Administrator

— NASA Watch (@NASAWatch) August 15, 2017

Keith's note: The exact date and venue for the formal announcement of these NASA leadership nominations has not been set. NASA HQ has liked to do events with a lot of pomp and flair so we'll see what they do for this announcement. Sources have told me that a post-Labor Day announcement was being planned but it may be moved up now. Or maybe it won't.

Looking at where NASA is - and where the Trump folks seem to want it to go - a pairing of Jim Bridenstine with John Schumacher make a lot of sense. Bridenstine's views seem to resonate well with a lot of what seems to be buzzing around inside the heads of TrumpSpace people. Schumacher has a long resume in senior positions at both NASA - so he'll give Bridenstine a lot of managerial support. Bridenstine has a lot of interest in emerging space commerce opportunities while Schumacher has a solid aerospace background - another way that their skillsets complement one another.

Commercial space is not going away. Neither is SLS. As such NASA will need to support both - hopefully in synergistic and complementary fashion. So the prudent thing to do was to select a team that can represent both camps and build a long term alliance between them. That is what this decision clearly seems to represent.

Sources: Trump administration has picked its NASA leader, Ars Technica

"NASA may finally be close to getting some clarity about its leadership during the Trump administration. On Tuesday, NASA Watch reported that the President will nominate US Representative Jim Bridenstine (R-Okla.), as administrator and Aerojet Rocketdyne Vice President John Schumacher as deputy administrator. Both men have been rumored to be nominated for these posts in recent weeks, but there have been no official confirmations as yet."

White House Likely to Name Rep. Jim Bridenstine NASA Chief by Next Month, Wall Street Journal

"Barring a last-minute holdup, these people said, announcements could come as soon as next week and not later than the first week of September. It isn't clear why the decisions, which Mr. Bridenstine and his supporters expected several months ago, took longer than had been anticipated. The likely timing of the nomination was first reported by NASA Watch, an independent website that tracks the agency and space issues."

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