Bush names missile defence veteran to head Nasa

WASHINGTON - Michael Griffin, a former chief engineer at Nasa who has also worked on missile defence systems, has been named as President Bush's choice to head the US space agency.

Griffin would succeed Sean O'Keefe, who presided over the National Aeronautics and Space Administration during the troubled period following the midair breakup of the shuttle Columbia on Feb. 1, 2003.

The accident killed all seven astronauts and brought criticism from investigators, who blamed Nasa's "broken safety culture."

Griffin is head of the space department at the Applied Physics Laboratory of Johns Hopkins University, which works on civilian and military space programs, including missile and air defence and national security analysis.

Previously, he was president of In-Q-Tel, the CIA's private venture capital arm, and worked at Orbital Sciences Corp, which develops rockets and missiles.

Earlier in his career, Griffin served as Nasa's chief engineer and as deputy for technology at the Strategic Defence Initiative Organisation, founded in 1984 to develop a space-based anti-missile defence popularly known as "Star Wars." The program was abandoned in 1993.

The announcement Bush intends to nominate Griffin drew quick bipartisan praise from members of both houses of Congress and from the space-boosting Planetary Society.

PRAISE FROM CAPITOL HILL

Sen. Barbara Mikulski, a Maryland Democrat whose state is home to the Applied Physics Laboratory and two Nasa outposts that deal with the Hubble Space Telescope, said Griffin had "the right combination of experience in industry, academia and government service."

Rep. Sherwood Boehlert, a New York Republican who heads the US House of Representatives Science Committee, and Rep. Ken Calvert, a California Republican who chairs a panel on space and aeronautics, also gave their support in a statement.

"He has broad expertise, knows Nasa inside and out, and is an imaginative and creative thinker and leader," Boehlert said. "We look very forward to working with Dr. Griffin at this critical time for Nasa."

The shuttle fleet has not flown since the Columbia accident and Bush has set out a vision that would replace the remaining shuttles with a new space vehicle meant to take Americans back to the moon and eventually to Mars.

Shuttle Discovery is slated for launch in May on the first flight incorporating safety upgrades recommended by investigators who probed the Columbia tragedy.

The immediate cause of the accident was a breach in Columbia's wing caused by foam insulation that fell from the shuttle's external fuel tank on liftoff. The breach allowed superheated gas to enter the craft during reentry, tearing the ship apart.

Investigators also stressed underlying causes for the accident, including schedule pressure that may have trumped safety concerns and a failure to get information about possible problems up the chain of command at Nasa.

Wes Huntress, a former NASA associate administrator who now heads the Planetary Society, praised Griffin, saying, "He resonates with the president's new vision for space and will add a down-to-earth insistence on logic and realism."

Since O'Keefe's departure in February to become chancellor of Louisiana State University, Nasa's acting director has been former astronaut Fred Gregory.

- REUTERS