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NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine said he will step down when Joe Biden becomes President of the United States.
Mr. Bridenstine was appointed by President Donald Trump and served as an administrator for three years.
He was previously a Republican congressman representing Oklahoma.
He said stepping aside would be in NASA’s best interest under an administration led by Joe Biden.
“What you need is someone who has a close relationship with the president of the United States. You need someone who trusts the administration… and I think I wouldn’t be the right person for that in a new administration, ”Bridenstine told Aerospace Daily.
Under Bridenstine’s leadership, NASA has been pursuing plans to bring people back to the moon and potentially establish a base there.
It also carried on the agency’s embrace of commercial partnerships, including the historic launch of two NASA astronauts on the International Space Station by a private company for the first time.
The space agency partnered with Elon Musk’s SpaceX company to send Douglas Hurley and Robert Behnken to the ISS in May of this year.
“We’ve been very successful, but it’s because of the relationships,” Bridenstine said.
“You must have those reports. Whoever the president is, they must have someone they know and trust and someone the administration trusts. That person won’t be me. “
While he doesn’t intend to stay, he said there was “political agreement that America needs to do great things in space exploration” and said that driving NASA was “the greatest experience” of his life until now.
“But I have no illusions,” he said.
“There are a lot of people who can do a great job as a NASA administrator.”
Originally released as NASA chief leaving when Trump does
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