WASHINGTON
-- Scott "Doc" Horowitz, NASA's associate administrator for
exploration systems since late 2005, plans to step down this fall.
NASA
spokeswoman Beth Dickey confirmed July 11 that Horowitz had informed colleagues
that afternoon of his intent to resign on or around Oct. 1. She had no
immediate information on a successor.
As head of
NASA's $3.4 billion Exploration
Systems Mission Directorate, Horowitz is in charge of the U.S. space
agency's efforts to replace the space shuttle fleet with the Orion Crew
Exploration Vehicle and Ares I rocket.
Horowitz, a
retired U.S. Air Force colonel, flew four space shuttle missions as pilot or
commander.
After
leaving the astronaut corps in 2004, Horowitz joined Alliant Techsystems as its
director of exploration and space transportation. In that role, Horowitz
vigorously pushed for using the space shuttle solid-rocket booster (SRB) as the
basis for NASA's next crewed launch vehicle.
In 2005,
before Horowitz rejoined NASA, the agency selected the four segment SRB-based
crew launch vehicle design over competing designs that would have made use of
the Atlas 5 or Delta 4 rockets developed under the U.S. Air Force's Evolved Expendable
Launch Vehicle program.
The main
stage of the Ares I crew launch vehicle is being built for NASA by Alliant
Techsystems.
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