Gen. Charles Bolden First African American to Head NASA
President Barack Obama has nominated the first African American ever to head up the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA).
Gen. Charles Bolden
On Saturday May 23rd – the day that space shuttle Atlantis safely returned to Earth after successfully repairing the Hubble Space telescope – Obama named retired Gen. Charles Bolden to lead NASA, saying that as the top administrator, Gen. Bolden “…will help put NASA on course to boldly push the boundaries of science, aeronautics and exploration in the 21st century, and ensure the long-term vibrancy of America’s space program.”
As an astronaut in 1990, Bolden piloted the space shuttle mission that put Hubble in orbit. Gen. Bolden, 62, an African American who rose to the post of commanding the Third Marine Aircraft Wing, retired from the US Marine Corps in 2003 after a distinguished career of over 34 years.
The Columbia, S.C. native grew up in the segregated South. When he tried to enroll in the US Naval Academy, he was turned down because of his color.
Bolden had to enlist the aid of a congressman from another state to finally get him in.
In May 1980, Bolden, who joined the Marines in 1968 and flew more than 100 sorties in Vietnam, was selected to be an astronaut by NASA, piloting two space shuttle missions (shuttle Columbia in January 1986 and Discovery in 1990), and commanding two others (Atlantis in 1992 and Discovery in 1994), logging more than 680 hours in space.
After the tragic 1986 Challenger space shuttle explosion in which fellow black astronaut and physics expert Dr. Ronald McNair, an alum of NC A&T University, died with six others on lift-off, Bolden was appointed the chief of NASA’s safety division at Johnson Space Center.
The Columbia, S.C. native’s job was to oversee new safety measures before the shuttle fleet could be returned to service.
In 1992 Bolden was named NASA assistant deputy administrator, eventually leaving the agency in 1994 to return to active duty in the Marine Corps. Ten years later, President George W. Bush nominated Gen. Bolden to become the number two man at NASA, but withdrew the selection when Bolden was pressed into service because of 9-11.
Since retiring from the Marine Corps, Gen. Bolden, who has a B.S. in electrical engineering from the US Naval Academy and an M.S. in systems management from the University of Southern California, has led several top executive positions with high tech consulting firms, the last being his most recent position as CEO of Jack and Panther LLC.