Jim Bridenstine – Page 5 – Spaceflight Now

Facing more delays, NASA opens door to launching lunar mission with commercial rockets

March 13, 2019 Stephen Clark

In a major shift, NASA is considering using two commercial launchers to send an unpiloted Orion crew capsule and its European-built service module on a test flight around the moon next year, maintaining the lunar test flight’s schedule despite fresh delays in the development of the multibillion-dollar Space Launch System that jeopardize the heavy-lifter’s 2020 inaugural flight, the agency’s administrator said in a congressional hearing Wednesday.

NASA unveils $21 billion Trump administration fiscal year 2020 budget request

March 11, 2019 William Harwood

President Trump’s fiscal 2020 budget request includes $21.02 billion for NASA, funding the agency’s ongoing efforts to develop commercial spacecraft and infrastructure in low-Earth orbit and to press ahead with construction and launch of the world’s most powerful rocket and the Orion crew ships that will carry astronauts back to the moon.

NASA picks nine companies to compete for commercial lunar lander missions

November 29, 2018 Stephen Clark

NASA announced Thursday nine companies that will be eligible to compete for up to $2.6 billion in contracts over the next decade to ferry scientific instruments and tech demo payloads to the moon aboard commercial robotic landers, a first step in what agency officials said will foster expanded private investment in deep space exploration and an eventual return of humans to the lunar surface.

NASA administrator says Russians on track for December Soyuz flight to station

October 23, 2018 William Harwood

Russian engineers have a “really, really good idea” about what went wrong during a Soyuz launch to the International Space Station Oct. 11, forcing the ship’s two-man crew to carry out an emergency abort, NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine said Tuesday. He added that he expects the Russians to resume piloted Soyuz flights in December.

Trump calls for establishment of U.S. “space force”

June 18, 2018 William Harwood

Catching observers off guard, President Trump, in remarks before a National Space Council Meeting at the White House Monday, officially directed to Pentagon to establish a sixth branch of the military, a “space force,” to ensure American dominance on the high frontier.

NASA cancels lunar rover, shifts focus to commercial moon landers

May 1, 2018 Stephen Clark

As NASA turns up support for future commercial lunar landers, the space agency last week canceled a mission that would have placed a rover on the moon to survey resources, such as water and helium, that could be used by future human explorers.

Bridenstine sworn in as 13th NASA administrator

April 23, 2018 William Harwood

Oklahoma Republican Rep. Jim Bridenstine resigned from the House of Representatives Monday and was sworn in as NASA’s 13th administrator by Vice President Mike Pence, chairman of the recently revitalized National Space Council.

Bridenstine narrowly confirmed in Senate to become next NASA chief

April 19, 2018 William Harwood

Rep. Jim Bridenstine, an Oklahoma Republican, was confirmed Thursday as NASA’s 13th administrator after months of partisan wrangling over his lack of experience in the space arena and prior statements questioning human contributions to climate change.

Robert Lightfoot, NASA’s longest-serving interim administrator, to retire

March 12, 2018 Stephen Clark

NASA Acting Administrator Robert Lightfoot, a rocket propulsion engineer and career civil servant who has led the space agency since the beginning of the Trump administration, said Monday he will retire from the space agency at the end of April.

White House taps Bridenstine to head NASA

September 9, 2017 Stephen Clark

President Trump plans to nominate Rep. Jim Bridenstine, an Oklahoma Republican who has championed commercial spaceflight and a return to the moon, to be the next NASA administrator after months of speculation.