NASA nominee gets liftoff from Senate Commerce panel
Lawmakers at confirmation hearing say they want to see Michael Griffin on the job Monday.
NASA administrator nominee Michael Griffin blasted through a Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee confirmation hearing Tuesday, with lawmakers saying they hoped to see him on the job by Monday.
Committee chairman Sen. Ted Stevens, R-Alaska promised "emergency action" to ensure Griffin's nomination reaches full body for a vote this week.
A speedy confirmation would install Griffin in NASA's top post just a month before the scheduled launch of Discovery on the first space shuttle mission in more than two years.
The Johns Hopkins University physicist testified that his top priority as NASA's 11th administrator will be to assess the agency's progress recovering from the February 2003 Columbia disaster. He told the committee he plans immediately to look into any concerns remaining as the agency prepares for the comeback mission.
"There is a certain amount of contentiousness going on now as to what state of completion the shuttle return-to-flight exercise can reach," Griffin said. "One thing we want to make sure of is that we hear from all parties."
The nominee got a warm bipartisan welcome. Committee members praised him as a strong leader who would bring expertise, passion and humbleness to the position of NASA administrator.
"He's a rocket scientist. Thank God, we're going to have somebody that understands what this is all about," said Sen. Barbara Mikulski, D-Md., who has been campaigning for NASA to mount a space shuttle mission to rejuvenate the aging Hubble Space Telescope.
Griffin would succeed Sean O'Keefe, who returned to his home state in February to become chancellor of Louisiana State University.
A veteran aerospace engineer, Griffin's federal service includes two stints at NASA, one as chief engineer and another as associate administrator for space exploration during the George H.W. Bush presidency. Griffin also served as deputy director for technology in the Strategic Defense Initiative Organization.
At Johns Hopkins University, Griffin managed the 600-member space department of the Applied Physics Laboratory. Before joining APL, he was as 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 resume 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 said he "wholeheartedly" supports President Bush's vision for space exploration, which includes retiring the shuttle to clear the way for a return to the moon by 2020 and a later human voyage to Mars.
He asked for an opportunity to prove to Congress that NASA can achieve more than one major goal at a time, alluding to the agency's plan to cut some science and aeronautics programs to protect its exploration focus.
Griffin also said he wants to reconsider NASA's controversial decision against another Hubble Space Telescope servicing mission once Discovery has flown and returned safely to Earth.