WASHINGTON Meeting with reporters five days into his term as NASA administrator, Sean OKeefe sketched a bare-bones agenda for his stewardship of the U.S. space agency that was long on broad concepts but short on specifics.
At a breakfast roundtable at NASA headquarters here Jan. 8, OKeefe said the financial and managerial problems afflicting the international space station program will garner much of his attention in the early days of his administration, but not at the expense of the agencys other activities.
OKeefe also said aeronautics and life sciences programs deserve more emphasis, but stressed more emphasis does not necessarily mean more funding.
One of his overarching goals for NASA, he said, is to ensure that the agency remains the nations preeminent science and technology organization.
OKeefe referred repeatedly to The President Management Agenda, a 64-page document he helped prepare while deputy director of the White House Office of Management and Budget.
The second item on that agenda, OKeefe said, calls for giving the private sector more opportunities to compete for the right to perform certain tasks traditionally performed by government employees.
OKeefe said part of the Presidents Management Agenda will be to take a close look at the space shuttle program. But he would not say whether he is in favor of privatizing the fleet completely.
"I dont have any preconceived notions one way of the other," OKeefe said. "The point is competitive sourcing."
Houston-based United Space Alliance, a private company, currently operates the space shuttle, but NASA owns the four orbiters and related infrastructure.
OKeefe said he plans to devote the next several months formulating a strategic vision and setting specific goals for his administration.
In early February, OKeefe plans to unveil NASAs budget request for 2003, a document that he said is "not uniquely [his]" but would reflect at least some of his ideas for the agency.
He plans to spend the six weeks visiting as many of the 10 NASA field centers as proves feasible, starting next week with Langley Research Center in Hampton, Va. The following week he heads to Johnson Space Center in Houston, according NASA spokesman Bob Jacobs.
OKeefe said he is looking forward to the field center visits as a chance "to get to know the people who have really driven the amazing capability we have [at NASA]."
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