Astronaut is said to be nominee to lead NASA

President Obama will name former astronaut Charles F. Bolden Jr. as NASA administrator, according to three congressional sources. If confirmed by the Senate, the retired Marine Corps general would be the first African American to head the agency.

The timing, the sources said, is keyed to the landing of the shuttle Atlantis, which remained in orbit Friday because of bad weather but will return today or Sunday. The sources were called Friday and briefed by the White House, which would not comment for this article.

The president will also announce that his campaign space advisor, Lori Garver, will be Bolden’s deputy, the sources said.

Bolden would take over an agency in flux, one that needs to redefine its mission, adapt to budget realities and reestablish a sense of purpose to satisfy a chief executive who has called it “adrift.”

Obama will make the announcement less than a week after the two men met in the White House for an interview that included frank discussions about Bolden’s ties to NASA contractors and his opposition to future budget cuts that Obama has suggested may be necessary.

In picking Bolden, who could not be reached for comment, the president will throw his support behind a man who flew more than 100 combat missions during the Vietnam War before joining NASA for four shuttle flights, including two as commander. Bolden, 62, would be the second astronaut to lead NASA.

But Bolden was not Obama’s first choice. Earlier this year, the president favored one of his campaign supporters -- retired Air Force Gen. J. Scott Gration -- but Gration was rejected by opposition on Capitol Hill. Foes in Congress, including Sen. Bill Nelson (D-Fla.), also sank the bid of Steve Isakowitz, an Energy Department official.

Nelson has been Bolden’s biggest champion. The two men flew together aboard a shuttle mission in 1986. Nelson’s office could not be reached for comment.

Bolden won praise Friday as a strong leader, but agency watchers were concerned that he lacks a close relationship with Obama.

NASA’s previous administrator, Michael Griffin, was an outsider to the White House. Since he resigned in January, Griffin has complained that during his time at NASA he was never able to get around the “unnamed staffers” in the Office of Management and Budget who regularly cut the agency’s programs.

“Clearly, Bolden does not have the relations with the president that Gration has,” said Roger Launius, a curator at the National Air and Space Museum in Washington. “What Bolden has is a very strong understanding of NASA culture.”

There also have been concerns about Bolden’s ties to NASA contractors, including a brief stint in 2005 as a lobbyist for Minneapolis-based rocket company Alliant Techsystems Inc. and more recently as a board member for Rancho Cordova, Calif.-based GenCorp Inc.

These connections could hinder Bolden’s ability to lead the agency as NASA makes the transition from the shuttle -- due to retire in 2010 or 2011 -- to its next manned-spaceflight vehicle, called Constellation.

Constellation, which consists of the Ares I rocket and Orion capsule, has had technical problems, is billions of dollars over budget and won’t fly before 2015.

Bolden’s past work for Constellation contractors could run afoul of tough ethics rules Obama instituted when he took office. The executive order says appointees cannot “participate in any particular matter . . . that is directly and substantially related to [a] former employer or former clients, including regulations and contracts.”

Until March 2008, Bolden served on the board of directors for GenCorp, whose Aerojet subsidiary makes propulsion systems and maneuvering engines for the shuttle and Constellation’s Orion capsule.

Bolden’s nomination was viewed by many as a step to stabilize an agency that has lacked an administrator since Jan. 20. Sen. Barbara A. Mikulski (D-Md.), who chairs a subcommittee that oversees NASA’s budget, cited Bolden’s biography.

“We think that Mr. Bolden has a very hefty background. He has a compelling personal story,” she said Thursday.

Born in segregated South Carolina, Bolden attended high school in Columbia before graduating from the U.S. Naval Academy in 1968. As a military aviator, he earned several honors, including the Distinguished Flying Cross.

Bolden also flew on the 1990 shuttle mission that deployed the Hubble Space Telescope.

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