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NASA administrator Jim Bridenstine said he would not remain head of the agency under the Biden administration, even if requested by the president-elect.
Bridenstine, a Republican, represented Oklahoma’s first congressional district before President Donald Trump named him to the top of NASA. But he stressed that his plan to step down is not based on party affiliation. Rather, Bridenstine said, she would do it to make sure the agency’s next leader could be someone with a long-term relationship with Biden.
“The right question here is, ‘What is NASA’s best interest as an agency and what is the best interest of the American exploration program?'” Bridenstine told Aviation Week. “For this, what you need is someone who has a close relationship with the president of the United States. You need someone the administration trusts.
“I think I wouldn’t be the right person for this in a new administration,” he added.
Since Trump chose Bridenstine to lead NASA in April 2018, the agency has announced its Artemis program, which now aims to send the first woman and next man to the moon by 2024. The program also aims to establish a sustainable human presence on the lunar surface by 2024. 2028 (The last time people walked on the moon was in December 1972).
Bridenstine also encouraged the development of commercial space flight in the United States. During his tenure, SpaceX completed its first manned mission in partnership with NASA, the result of the agency’s Commercial Crew Program, initiated under the Obama administration. The launch of Crew-1, the first routine SpaceX / NASA mission, is scheduled for this Saturday (the summer one was considered a demonstration).
In the future, SpaceX and Boeing are expected to transport NASA astronauts to and from the International Space Station at least eight times in total. Other private companies are also competing to develop spacecraft capable of landing goods and people on the lunar surface.
While at the helm of NASA, Bridenstine also oversaw the launch of the Mars Perseverance rover in July and the successful landing of the Osiris-Rex probe and the collection of samples on the asteroid Bennu.
Biden’s priorities differ from Trump’s in some key points, according to Reuters. Biden will likely postpone the Artemis mission timeline by several years. It is also expected to propose extending US funding for the space station instead of handing over control to private space companies by 2025, which the Trump administration had planned to do.
Biden’s administration, however, will likely continue to promote competition between companies like SpaceX and Boeing for space flight contracts.
Full details of Biden’s agenda for NASA are not yet fully known. The president-elect wrote in August that he hopes to lead “a bold space program that will continue to send astronaut heroes to expand our exploration and scientific frontiers.”
Bridenstine said she is optimistic about the future of space exploration under Biden, particularly when it comes to sending astronauts to the moon.
“We are in a good position as a country. If you look at the bipartisan and apolitical support we have from members of Congress on both sides of the corridor… there is strong support for Artemis, ”Bridenstine told Aviation Week.
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