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NASA—Passing On and Stepping Out to New Ventures

Three events of note from NASA, which include:
  • NASA trio for news NASA Chief of Strategic Communications Robert Hopkins announced that he will be leaving the agency for a position in the private sector. Hopkins served as a senior adviser to Deputy Administrator Shana Dale, and as assistant administrator for the recently established Office of Communications Planning before assuming the strategic communications role. NASA Administrator Michael Griffin named Chris Shank as acting chief of strategic communications. Shank currently serves as the director of strategic investments in the Office of Program Analysis and Evaluation.

  • James Reilly announced his departure from NASA to accept a position in the private sector. Reilly flew on three space shuttle missions to two space stations in which he experienced more than 853 hours in space, and conducted five spacewalks totaling more than 31 hours. He was selected as an astronaut in 1994, and flew in January 1998 aboard shuttle Endeavour’s STS-89 mission, the eighth shuttle mission to visit the Russian space station Mir. He next flew in 2001 on STS-104 aboard shuttle Atlantis, participating in three spacewalks and installed the joint airlock on the International Space Station. Reilly again flew on Atlantis in 2007 on STS-117, performing two spacewalks for construction and repair of the International Space Station.

  • Lastly, Dr. Robert C. Seamans, Jr. who served as NASA deputy administrator from 1965 to 1968 recently died. Addressing his passing NASA Administrator Michael Griffin said: “Robert Seamans was one of the early leaders in launching NASA’s efforts to explore the new frontier of space. As NASA’s associate administrator and then deputy administrator, Bob, as a top manager and consummate engineer, was instrumental in the decision making, planning and program execution that enabled the United States to meet President Kennedy’s goal of landing men on the moon. He will be remembered as one of the great pioneers and leaders of America’s space program.” In addition to his above credits, and many others not listed, it should be noted that Robert Channing Seamans Jr. was the ninth secretary of the Air Force.