Society Lauds Outgoing NASA Director

Sean O'Keefe arrived at NASA with a commitment to financial responsibility, but he leaves the agency with a broader legacy. He deserves sincere thanks for his compassionate stewardship of the agency through the Columbia accident and the return of the shuttle to flight. He deserves serious respect for his leadership in formulating, staffing and funding the Vision for Space Exploration. It is clear that NASA's recent budget victory would not have been possible without Mr. O'Keefe's advocacy; what should be equally recognized is that the transformation Mr. O'Keefe initiated upon his arrival was critical to building an environment in which the president could launch the new vision.

Yes, Sir. He Likes It.

SpaceDev founding chairman and CEO, Jim Benson, likes the Commercial Space Launch Amendments Act passed by the Senate late last week. Now, he wants President Bush to sign it into law.

Missions Include Measuring Hydrogen -- Precursor Of Water

NASA has selected eight proposals to provide instrumentation and associated science investigations for the mobile Mars Science Laboratory rover, scheduled for launch in 2009. Proposals selected today were submitted to NASA in response to an announcement of opportunity released in April.

Named Marshall Center Deputy Director

Charles B. Chitwood has been name the new Deputy Director at the Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, AL. Chitwood will succeed Rex Geveden who recently became NASA's Chief Engineer at its headquarters in Washington, DC.