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NASA Appoints New Chief Scientist

Posted by Soulskill on from the welcome-aboard dept.

SchrodingerZ writes "Planetary Geologist Ellen Stofan, expert in the terrains of Venus, Mars, and Titan, has recently been appointed the Chief Scientist for the space agency. Stofan will act as the top adviser for Charles Bolden, NASA's current administrator. Beginning August 25th, Stofan will be Bolden's head adviser for NASA's project planning and investments. She will replace former chief scientist Dr. Waleed Abdalati, who left his position to be the director of the Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences at the University of Colorado. Stofan has both a masters and doctoral degree of geological sciences from Brown University, and is known for her involvement in the Applied Science Laboratory's project to put a boat on Saturn's moon Titan, as well as a member of the radar team for the Cassini spacecraft. Though she'll be joining in a time of large budget cuts, Bolden explains that '[Stofan's] breadth of experience and familiarity with the agency will allow her to hit the ground running. We're fortunate to have her on our team.'"

2 of 66 comments (clear)

  1. In which direction? by OhANameWhatName · · Score: -1, Troll

    Bolden explains that '[Stofan's] breadth of experience and familiarity with the agency will allow her to hit the ground running

    I predict that this will be the first replacement in a long line of many replacements. NASA is almost completely irrelevant in the modern world. There's bugger all that NASA has done with it's massive budgets and people continue to look to them for progress. Anyone with hopes for the US space program is just reaching for desperate idealism in the face of the nearly complete failure of human kind to do any sort of space exploration.

    NASA :- Not A Serious Agency

  2. Re:politics, not science by odigity · · Score: -1, Troll

    If you have to tolerate a tyrannical hierarchy that wages war and devalues the currency just to use it to steal money from people for your pet project, perhaps you're not being creative enough.

    The bottom line is, a moral society recognizes that the ends do not justify the means. Sadly, we're still a long way from a moral society.

    And yes, you're part of the problem.