Steidle is out: Griffin continues re-org

[radarredux]

Craig Steidle, who led the early JSF development program and promoted the two CVE "fly off" approach, has submitted his resignation. IMHO, the writing was on the wall after Griffin (1) changed the "fly off" approach (which the JSF did as well), (2) changed the timeline of the CVE, (3) put together a new crack team to refine the VSE and it excluded Steidle, (4) and generally threw out the previous VSE plans.<br /><br />The reorganization extends beyond Steidle, as 50 senior NASA engineers are soon getting letters telling them about the changes to their jobs.<br /><br />http://www.spaceref.com/news/viewnews.html?id=1029

 

[wvbraun]

Wow! That one took me by surprise. I thought they had worked out their differences after an initial rough start. <br /><br />I liked Steidle, he seemed very competent. Let's hope Griffin knows what he is doing...

 

[radarredux]

Steidle certainly appears to have been pushed out. Below is a letter he sent (the emphasis is mine):<br /><br /><blockquote><font class="small">In reply to:</font><hr /><p>Dear Exploration Team Members,<br /><br />When an organization gets a new leader, it is usually customary for that leader to bring in his or her own management team and this is what Dr. Griffin has decided to do. <b><i>Yesterday, I was offered a reassignment to another job within NASA at one of our Centers, which I declined. Declining the reassignment means that I will be leaving NASA at the end of the month.</i></b><br /><br />Although I will have the opportunity to talk to many of you before I leave, I wanted to share some thoughts with you.<br /><br />I have held many leadership positions during my career, but I have never led an organization that was as dedicated, intelligent, and hard working as the NASA Exploration team.<br /><br />As I think about where we were just over a year ago and where we are today, I can't tell you how proud I am of each and every one of you for your contribution to this effort of national importance. You should be proud of your contributions to this program, and to your part in making the president's vision a reality.<br /><br />I am extremely grateful for this experience and I know that you will make my successor just as proud.<br /><br />Thank you all,<br /><br />Craig<p><hr /></p></p></blockquote><br />http://www.spaceref.com/news/viewsr.html?pid=16881

 

[wvbraun]

I really hope Griffin has someone lined up who is as qualified as Steidle was. I wonder if he has talked with someone in the White House about this. If not it might backfire...

 

[SpaceKiwi]

Agreed. Griffin has been the master of putting stakes in the ground on a whole range of issues. I hope he knows where he's headed and is smart enough to realise he isn't the sole repository of all knowledge, and that there are some fairly handy people about who should be kept on board. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p><em><font size="2" color="#ff0000">Who is this superhero?  Henry, the mild-mannered janitor ... could be!</font></em></p><p><em><font size="2">-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------</font></em></p><p><font size="5">Bring Back The Black!</font></p> </div>

 

[spacester]

Business is Business. If you're going to reform NASA, there's going to be personel changes at the highest levels. Simple as that, these things are part of the journey for high level execs. Was Steidle too old-guard? Part of the problem? A victim of circumstance? Beats me, I'll have to trust Mike's judgment. The honeymoon is not over yet as far as I'm concerned. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> </div>

 

[wvbraun]

"Was Steidle too old-guard?"<br /><br />No. He was very enthusiastic with regard to private sector involvement. He wanted an unconventional parallel development program for the CEV (think t/space). The chances for that have significantly decreased with his resignation. Griffin apparently is not willing to spend much if any money on unconventional approaches for the time being. He has indicated though that he would buy services from the private sector once they become available...

 

[SpaceKiwi]

At the pace he is operating, Griffin will prove himself to be a certifiable genius ...... or just certifiable!<br /><br />Either way, it's fair to say the glacial pace of development at NASA hasn't had such a fire lit under it since the Apollo days! The jury might still be out on where Griffin is headed, but he has found the on-ramp and he is starting to gun the engine. <img src="/images/icons/laugh.gif" /> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p><em><font size="2" color="#ff0000">Who is this superhero?  Henry, the mild-mannered janitor ... could be!</font></em></p><p><em><font size="2">-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------</font></em></p><p><font size="5">Bring Back The Black!</font></p> </div>

 

[radarredux]

> <i><font color="yellow">t's fair to say the glacial pace of development at NASA hasn't had such a fire lit under it since the Apollo days!</font>/i><br /><br />I agree.<br /><br />When President Bush first announced the VSE there was a lot of excitement, but things seemed to slow down soon after. Even the roadmap was relatively slow (first LEO flights roughly a decade from the initial VSE announcement!).<br /><br />Now everything seems to be moving. Add in Scaled's success at the X Prize, Virgin Galactic pouring in money to start a sub-orbital tourist venture, SpaceX's imminent first launch, and t/Space developing (and prototyping!!) a new approach for manned access to LEO, and I really get the feeling that we are seeing a complete, dramatic, and fast transformation of the space industry.</i>

 

[wvbraun]

"NASA hasn't had such a fire lit under it since the Apollo days!"<br /><br />Agreed. It's telling that it took NASA almost one and a half years to come up with a plan for a return to the Moon (if they had a plan ready, apparently it was all still pretty vague). Then Griffin comes along and says he will have a new plan ready by July.

 

[wvbraun]

NASA Chief to Oust 20

 

[shuttle_rtf]

>clear away entrenched bureaucracy<<br /><br />What, like William Readdy? <br /><br />We can all do soundbytes.

 

[spacester]

It will be interesting to see if the positions are eliminated or refilled. Do these guys have important functions and they're just doing things "wrong" or are their positions entirely superfluous? <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> </div>

 

[shuttle_rtf]

Not sure, but if Parsons is gone too, then Wayne Hale's just got a load more work on his plate.

 

[no_way]

" Griffin's plan is definitely not a full employment plan."<br /><br />Huh, it certainly appears to be. He's so fixated on shuttle-derived everything that obviously all the associated infrastructure and thousands of payrolls will stay in place. ATK Thiokol, Rocketdyne etc. should all be very happy already.