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The Pentagon’s top technology official and his deputy are resigning next month, a Defense Department official confirmed on Tuesday. Mike Griffin, the Pentagon's first undersecretary of research and engineering, and his deputy, Lisa Porter, will leave July 10, the official said. The resignations were first reported by Inside Defense. Griffin, who took on the role in early 2018, and Porter said in a letter to staff that “a private-sector opportunity has presented itself to us, offering an opportunity we have decided to pursue together,” Defense News reported. “It has been a pleasure leading this great team over the past few...

NASA Administrator Michael Griffin - he insists on being called Mike - has little time for pessimists. And only a misinformed pessimist, in his view, would worry overly much about future budgets and the presumption that development of NASA's planned shuttle replacement - the Crew Exploration Vehicle - will be stretched out. Griffin believes the gap between the end of shuttle operations in 2010 and the advent of manned CEV flights will be relatively short, emphasizing that NASA does not need new money to make it happen. In a wide-ranging interview with CBS Space Consultant William Harwood, Griffin also reiterated...

Griffin Favors Shuttle Solid Rocket Booster for Launching CEV NASA Administrator Mike Griffin said Monday that he favors launching the proposed Crew Exploration Vehicle (CEV) on a single solid rocket booster based on the ones that for the past two decades have helped lift the space shuttle off the launch pad. The so-called single stick approach, which refers to the use of a single solid rocket booster, has been touted by solid rocket maker ATK Thiokol as the safest and simplest solution to launching the CEV. The solid rocket would require an upper stage engine. Boeing and Lockheed Martin, meanwhile,...

NASA Administrator Mike Griffin made his first public appearance outside of NASA on Monday. The forum he chose was a breakfast hosted on Capitol Hill by Women in Aerospace (WIA). While founded 20 years ago with the impetus of helping women network within the aerospace community, WIA has a long tradition of being a facilitator of networking for both genders within the Washington D.C. aerospace community.

WASHINGTON – The Chairman of the Senate Commerce Committee said today that he would push for swift confirmation of NASA Administrator nominee Mike Griffin with the intent of clearing him to report for duty Monday April 18. Griffin said during his confirmation hearing before the Commerce Committee this morning that his two top priorities would be safe return to flight of the space shuttle fleet and eliminating the lengthy gap between retiring the shuttle fleet in 2010 and fielding a replacement vehicle, the Crew Exploration Vehicle now scheduled for its initial piloted launch in 2014. Griffin also said he would...