Abbey's new appointment comes after a highly decorated career stemming from the Apollo program, which earned him the Medal of Freedom for his role on the Apollo 13 Mission Operations Team.
"George has done a commendable job of leading a safe and dependable Space Shuttle program," NASA Chief Administrator Dan Goldin said. "The International Space Station is now a reality, thanks to George's extensive commitment and capability."
As director of the JSC since 1996, Abbey oversaw the management of NASA's largest space center. In 2001 JSC was given a $4 billion budget, more than a third of NASA's overall budget. Despite Goldin's kudos for Abbey, he was increasingly irritated about problems with the ISS's cost overruns and problems with the space shuttle program.
At an Aerospace Safety Advisory Panel meeting held February 8, Goldin angrily singled out JSC and shuttle contractors as "trying to make sure theres no competition to the shuttle."
"I know who they are and what they are doing," Goldin said at the meeting.
At that same panel gathering, Goldin also took aim at the shuttle upgrade program. He chided NASA managers for allowing cost overruns to hamper the upgrade program. In one case, better turbopumps for the Space Shuttle Main Engines (SSMEs), have experienced a cost growth by a factor of ten, Goldin said.
Goldin called the out-of-control cost growth "shameful and disgraceful."
Goldin also made his displeasure known that a digital accounting system for shuttle parts, as well as tracing repairs made to each of the space planes in the fleet, is no where in sight. Now a three decades-old program, the U.S. Space Shuttle program suffers from old analog thinking, he said.
A much larger problem now looms over NASA.
Major cost growth in the International Space Station (ISS) effort now threatens to bust a $25 billion cost cap signed into law last year.
NASA informed the U.S. Congress this month that it expects the cost of building the ISS to skyrocket as much as $3 billion over the next four years. Some congressional sources, however, believe the overrun is closer to $5 billion through 2005.
Abbey resigned his Air Force commission in 1967, and distinguished himself at the Johnson Space Center through increasingly responsible positions where he served as the Director of Flight Operations. There, he was responsible for the early operational flights of the Space Shuttle, and the Director of Flight Crew Operations, responsible for management of flight crews as well as center aircraft. As director, Abbey oversaw all of the center's many activities, including the International Space Station and he had complete control over the selection of astronaut crews. Unofficially he was known as "King George," and sometimes "Darth Vader," for his mysterious and imposing style.
Abbey held senior level positions at NASA Headquarters before his JSC post. In 1991, he was appointed to the Executive Office of the President as Senior Director, Civil Space Policy, National Space Council.
In today's announcement Goldin said: "As (President George W. Bush) has indicated, there needs to be reform in human spaceflight. During this time of transition, it is also the time for a change of leadership at the Johnson Space Center. We face a difficult and challenging future within the space program, and Roy Estess, working closely with Joe Rothenberg, Associate Administrator for Space Flight, will ensure a firm footing during this period."
Rothenberg will have the responsibility, along with Estess, to look at the talent at NASA and make recommendations as to who should be the new leader of JSC.
Estess' 40-year career in critical engineering and management positions distinguished him as a recognized leader, twice receiving the Presidential Distinguished Service Award.
Rothenberg, head of NASA's Human Exploration and Development of Space Enterprise, has institutional responsibilities for the Johnson Space Center in Houston, the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, the Marshall Space Flight Center in Alabama and the Stennis Space Center. Rothenberg previously served as the Director of the Goddard Space Flight Center in Maryland.
advertisement
