posted 04-12-2005 11:38 AM               

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Dr. Michael Griffin appeared before the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation this morning as President Bush's nominee to be the next Administrator of NASA. The questioning was generally friendly and to the point. Griffin did well and, it would seem, the committee will act to get a vote on his nomination expedited such that he might well be on the job next Monday morning.

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And, the question I'm sure several people have been wondering about:

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When asked by another senator to speak about Hubble, Griffin said: "With regard to the value of Hubble, the shortest way to say this is that the Hubble, almost by itself, is the instrument that allowed us as a race of people to understand that it is true that we know nothing about 95% of the universe." With regard to robotic servicing, Griffin said: "Before I was nominated I was chair of review committee for the robotic servicing mission. That committee has designated that the mission is not feasible - in terms of the time, money, and period before Hubble may become unusable. I would like to take the robotic mission off the plate. I think the choice comes down to reinstating a shuttle servicing mission or a simple deorbiting mission. The initial decision was made in the aftermath of the loss of Columbia. When we return to flight it will be essentially a new vehicle, with a new risk analysis associated with it. I think we should reassess the earlier decision in light of what we learn after return to flight.

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