Space Forum / Shuttle / June 2005

I'm not surprised, mainly because it's not news. Griffin made no secret of
his plans for the shuttle in his confirmation hearings in April, but the
ISS program won't have a clear set of options for how many shuttle flights
it needs until July 1. So this story is really just Griffin and the news
media marking time until then.

"Herb Schaltegger"

Dr. Griffin is also easing a few division chiefs out the door, with
others to follow.

On a different topic, he also endorsed a smooth transition to the lunar
exploration phase, saying that a long gap between the close of Shuttle
ops and the commencement of continued manned flights was undesirable.

Personnel changes are detailed in the same article:

"Dr. Griffin has been acting rapidly to reshape the upper management of
the space program, and letters have gone out to dozens of officials
telling them that they will be reassigned or will have the option of
leaving NASA.

"The first to announce that he would leave was Rear Adm. Craig E.
Steidle, who led efforts to develop the next-generation crewed space
vehicle; he made his resignation public last week. The Aerospace
Industries Association, a trade group, announced on Thursday that he
would join it as vice president for international affairs.

"William F. Readdy, who heads spaceflight operations, told co-workers in
an e-mail message on Monday that he would stay on through the shuttle's
return to flight and then decide whether to take a new job within NASA or
to retire.

"Alphonzo V. Diaz, the agency's associate administrator for science, said
in a memorandum to colleagues on Monday that he would retire "in the next
several months." J. Victor Lebacqz, NASA's associate administrator for
aeronautics research, announced his departure on Tuesday."

There's scuttlebutt going about as few as 16 - but then it ranges from we'll
miss the July window and never launch again to Sept. to mothballing Pad A
(which seems odd with all the work going on there now) to 26 flights.