January 7, 2009

Could Charles Bolden be First African American to lead NASA?


A former astronaut who has made four trips into space is reportedly a leading candidate for the top job at NASA ... the real one, not the Negro Space Program!

If selected by President-elect Barack Obama, Charles Bolden Jr. , 62, a retired Marine Corps general who makes his home in Houston's Bay Area, would be the first African American to head the space agency.

Read the rest of the media story at the Houston Chronicle.

7 comments:

Unknown said...

This is great news. I worked on NASA projects in the early 90s and did not meet many people who looked like me. This is a great wave of change for people of color, giving our black male youth powerful images of what education and hard work can do for you. -Julius

Vanessa said...

I agree with Julius. Bolden would be a great,positive image for the youth in this country. I do hope he is selected.

Unknown said...

Julius - Musta been cool being around the astronauts at NASA. I agree with you about the possibility of a role model at NASA being good for our young people. Hopefully Gen. Bolden will be Obama's choice...

Vanessa - I wonder if Bolden reads blogs?

Unknown said...

Unfortunately I did not get to meet any Astronauts, but I worked for a company that did research on the power systems for space exploration vehicles. The technology was so cool. I worked beside the coolest scientists, engineers and machinists who have parts they help make still sitting on the moon.

Unknown said...

Julius - Hopefully we can encourage our young people to pursue careers that will allow them to be part of NASA in the future. Space exploration will become a boom industry at some point in the 21st century...

Monica Roberts said...

Back when the TransGriot was in junior high school, I won an HISD sponsored essay contest that earned me a trip to NASA's Johnson Space Center.

After our non-standard tour through the facility, we got to meet the first group of NASA's African-American shuttle astronoauts, which included Dr. mae Jemison, Guy Bluford, Dr Ron McNair and Gen Bolden.

I would love to see him get the NASA job.

Unknown said...

Monica - I saw Art Linkletter when I was a kid. I would trade that for the chance to see Dr. Mae Jemison when she was an astronaut. I have a crush on her now (smile)...

I hope that Gen. Bolden gets the job as well. Surprisingly, I didn't know about him until this week when I saw the article in the Houston Chronicle...