Geologist, Apollo moonwalker, Republican Senator, and executive with a smaller firm involved in the launch, communication satellite, and Earth observation satellite business.

The others on my short list include payload specialist Kate Sullivan and AF General Pete Worden.

The last time they did this, Goldin's nomination came as a nearly complete surprise to journalists. The search process that the White House used to find Goldin is still not really clear, even at this time. The same thing goes for the candidate selection for earlier NASA Administrators.

Whovever they manage to persuade to take the job, the NEO community will have to bring him or her up to speed on the
current understanding as to just how bad the impact hazard is. Schmitt has another advantage here, in that he worked closely with impact specialist Gene Shoemaker. If it's Moorman, Worden and AF staff officers will take the lead in this effort.

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