Oct 17 2001
From The Space Library
NASA Administrator Daniel S. Goldin announced his resignation, effective 17 November 2001. Goldin, who had become the head of NASA on 1 April 1992, was NASA’s longest-serving Administrator. During his tenure, Goldin had overseen numerous successes for NASA, including the launch of Mars Pathfinder, the repair of the HST, and the redesign of the ISS. Goldin stated that he was leaving for personal reasons and that he had accepted an interim position at the Council on Competitiveness, an organization promoting U.S. economic competitiveness, both at home and abroad. However, newspapers noted that Goldin had made the announcement during a time of budgetary difficulties for NASA. Moreover, media reported that White House officials had already sought candidates to replace Goldin, although, according to NASA, President George W. Bush had not yet selected his replacement. (NASA, “NASA Administrator Daniel S. Goldin Announces Resignation,” news release 01-191, 17 October 2001; William Harwood, “NASA Chief to Step Down,” Washington Post, 18 October 2001.)
NASA formally accepted the Tracking and Data Relay Satellite–H (TDRS-H) from Boeing Satellite Systems. TDRS-H was part of a constellation of satellites that formed a communication-signal relay system, providing tracking and data-acquisition services between low Earth-orbiting spacecraft and ground-based control and data-processing facilities. The TDRS satellites served the HST, the ISS, and other NASA programs. Boeing had built TDRS-H under contract from NASA, which had launched the satellite in June 2000. However, NASA had delayed its formal acceptance of the spacecraft, after Boeing engineers had found that the satellite’s multiple-access, phased-array antenna did not meet contractually specified performance standards. On 10 August 2001, NASA and Boeing had announced that they had tentatively agreed to a settlement and were finalizing negotiations for NASA to accept the satellite. (The Boeing Company, “NASA To Take Control of TDRS-H Satellite,” news release 10 August 2001, http://www.boeing.com/news/releases/2001/q3/nr_010810t.html (accessed 28 January 2010); NASA, “Media Kit: TDRS-J Mission,” http://www.gsfc.nasa.gov/gsfc/earth/pictures/20021127tdrs_j/tdrs_jmedia.htm (accessed 25 November 2008).
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