Net Wanderings

A refreshingly warm-and-fuzzy side to NASA was revealed this afternoon at an “all-hands” briefing with Charles Bolden and Lori Garver, who were confirmed by Congress last week as NASA’s new administrator and deputy administrator.

“Feelings are not something that were popular in the last few years at NASA, but they’re back. Feelings are back!” Garver said.

It’s a sharp departure from the stoic and blunt former administrator Mike Griffin, who once said, “I don’t do feelings – just think of me as Spock.”

Bolden, on the other hand, is a self-described hugger and crier, and did both during his speech to the NASA community.

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He also warned the audience that he was likely to hug them. “I’m a hugger,” he said. “My wife always says, ‘But you don’t know her!’ But I hug. It’s a sign of peace.” Then he hugged Lori Garver, who said “I’m a hugger too!”

Garver also shared some encouraging poll results about the public’s opinion of NASA. Of those polled, 72 per cent have a positive impression of NASA. That’s greater than Apple, which got only a 63 per cent rating.

“We are more popular than your iPod,” Garver said.

In his closing remarks, Bolden touched on the Augustine Committee, which is in the process of reviewing NASA’s manned spaceflight programme, and discussed sending humans to Mars as NASA’s next big goal.

“Is there anybody here who does not want to go to Mars?” he asked. No one raised their hands. “We all agree that we want to go there. What we don’t agree on is how we get there.”

This guy is really trying to set himself apart from Griffin — which I think is just fabulous, if he can lead NASA as well as he can express his feelings.