credit: NASA / caption: Walter Cantrell is first on the left
Hyperbola has decided to throw a name into the ring for NASA administrator and that person is Walter Cantrell
For those of you saying "who!?" Cantrell was appointed as NASA's deputy chief engineer for the agency's Independent Technical Authority in 2004 by then administrator Sean O'Keefe
Hyperbola's choice is driven by a number of factors, familiarity with NASA, experience of managing large organisations, good knowledge of the Space Shuttle programme, and, as some have indicated that factions within Obama's team want a flag officer, Cantrell is a retired rear admiral, so he fits the bill
Rather like Nick Lampson, Cantrell is not aware of his selection by Hyperbola, nor does he probably care but the point is is that he meets all these requirements and is in this blog's humble opinion worth considering
Hyperbola did not conduct an exhaustive search but instead took the imminent Shuttle retirement as a key factor and looked around at individuals involved with Shuttle over the last few years and the return to flight group, which Cantrell was a part of, seemed like as good a place to start as any
Also a former member of NASA's Aerospace Safety Advisory Panel, Cantrell is an engnieer with a masters degree from MIT and retired from the US Navy in 1995 after serving as Commander, Space and Naval Warfare Systems Command. There he was responsible for the design and acquisition of nuclear submarines
After the navy he worked in the private sector as a programme manager, executive director and as a president for technology companies
While he was deputy chief of NASA's ITA he oversaw and "directed senior personnel assigned to execute technical decision" making - something some might argue is needed with the Ares I crew launch vehicle
While Cantrell is a submarine designer and buyer and admittedly a submarine is not a rocket they are both large complex vehicles that have long in-service durations where life cycle costs are important. What could be more applicable without involving individuals normally found spinning through the rotating doors of the incestuous NASA-industry complex?
on April 8, 2009 6:31 PM | Reply
No, no, no. You need to make a fake headline like "Nancy Pelosi supports Rob Coppinger as NASA administrator by granting interview!" or "Someone powerful in government eats some food that someone you want to be NASA administrator also eats!"
on April 8, 2009 10:36 PM | Reply
This is news to me - but I think he'd be a superb choice. No one works harder or is more impartial and thorough .
on April 9, 2009 11:17 PM | Reply
I absolutely agree. Walt is talented, knowledgeable, a nice guy, incredibly sincere, and a true leader.
The biggest difficulty is that he might make a lot of people work really hard.
I know from experience.
on April 10, 2009 6:17 PM | Reply
Interestingly someone with a similar background was POTUS from 1977-81! The most important aspect required for an Administrator is how much he and his collegues are in league with private industry. The primary reason why we have the Dog's dinner that is Constellation/ARES is that it is the Morton-Thiokol/Alliance Systems proposal of 2004 based on ensured continuity of manufacture of their SRB's. This is the company that Scott Horowitz coincidentally went to work for after the contracts were awarded once innumerable far superior(technically) proposals were rejected. The continuous dwngrading of the spacecraft and systems since is proof positive of what is the current dilemma in NASA. Can a man like Cantrell deal with this? Nothing in his CV indicates he can - or will.
on April 10, 2009 7:34 PM | Reply
But Cantrell is not in league with private industry as far as I can tell. And how do you know anyway? You think a politician administrator won't dive for the pork? BTW Horowitz worked for ATK before that decision. Nothing in Cantrell's CV indicates he can't deal with the Constellation situation either. The point is he is an engineer, he has dealt with long term engineering projects such as submarines with all the similar attributes they have to rocket programmes and he understands large organisations. You are never going to get someone who is perfect for the job, whatever that perfection is. Personally I think the challenge of NASA is good engineering decisions while working round political-industrial machinations and balancing inter-center rivalry.