WASHINGTON -- While Washington caterers wonder if they'll be billing the Republicans or Democrats for hors d'oeuvres at inaugural balls, Capitol Beltway space geeks wonder who will be running the show at NASA. Will Daniel S. Goldin serve under yet another Bush administration, or will someone new be tapped to lead the space odyssey in 2001?

A recent memorandum to cabinet and agency heads from White House Chief of Staff John Podesta has some 3,000 presidential appointees scurrying to update their resumes. The November 29 memo asks appointees to submit letters of resignation by December 15 and indicate a departure no later than noon, Inauguration Day, January 20, 2001.

According to Podesta, this is being done "to give the next president maximum flexibility in assembling his new administration." The action affects cabinet secretaries and heads of independent agencies, including NASA and other Senate-confirmed appointees. Resignations have not been requested from Inspector Generals or from term-appointees such as the director of the National Science Foundation or certain regulatory agencies.

Goldin, 60, could end up being around longer than many people think, or longer than some people hope. He was appointed to the job on April 1, 1992 by President George Bush. When Bill Clinton defeated Bush in the election that fall, Goldin volunteered to remain at NASA until the Clinton administration was able to appoint a replacement.

The White House Office of Personnel was unable to locate any documentation signed by Clinton that reaffirmed Goldin's appointment. A spokesman at the White House noted that the NASA administrator is a "POP" position, meaning he serves at the "pleasure of the president." Since Goldin hadn't resigned following the election, there was no need for Clinton to initiate a new appointment.

According to Ed Heffernan, NASA's chief of staff and head of Legislative Affairs, Vice President Al Gore telephoned the administrator to thank him for agreeing to remain on the job. In October 1993, Gore called again to formally offer the position to Goldin on behalf of the president. In April 1997, President Clinton sent Goldin a formal letter thanking him for agreeing to serve during the second term.

There is one Fletcher record, however, that not even Goldin is likely to break. Dr. Fletcher worked for four separate presidents: Richard Nixon, Gerald Ford, Ronald Reagan and George Bush. Goldin will most likely serve under three Presidents: George Bush, Bill Clinton and the evident president-elect, George W. Bush.

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Historically, the appointment of a NASA administrator has not been a high priority for new presidents. A traditionally bipartisan agency engaged in risky business, NASA offers little political capital to White House politicians. Nor does NASA's bank account offer much enticement to those who measure worth by the size of an agency's budget. At roughly $14 billion, NASA accounts for less than 1 percent of a $1.8 trillion Federal budget.

Ronald Reagan didn't get around to nominating James M. Beggs as administrator until six months after the inauguration. The confirmation process took another month and Beggs wasn't sworn in until July 10, 1981. The process was no speedier under George Bush when he succeeded Reagan in 1988. Bush announced the selection of Rear Admiral Richard H. Truly on April 13, 1989, but it took another three months to be confirmed.

There is little reason to believe that NASA will receive more expeditious attention from a George W. Bush administration. Space was not a prominent issue for either candidate during the campaign. In six years as governor of Texas, Bush never visited the Johnson Space Center in Houston.

One Republican space policy expert who asked not to be identified doubted that issues related to NASA in general, or candidates for administrator in particular, will be discussed by the Bush transition team any time soon.

The only buzz that a member of the Bush family has caused among space advocates came last week in at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Florida Governor Jeb Bush took a break from the vote recount controversy and showed up at the VIP site to view the launch of STS-97.