Retired Major General Charles F. Bolden Jr., a native of Columbia, S.C., became the first Black man to head the National Aeronautics and Space Administration last month.
Retired Major General Charles F. Bolden Jr., a native of Columbia, S.C., became the first Black man to head the National Aeronautics and Space Administration last month.
And he is only the second astronaut to be selected as the program’s administrator in its 50-year history. Vice Admiral Richard Truly was the first. The Senate confirmed Bolden without objection. Bolden, 62, has begun setting the course for the nation’s space exploration program.
“Today, we have to choose. Either we can invest in building on our hard-earned world technological leadership or we can abandon this commitment, ceding it to other nations who are working diligently to push the frontiers of space. If we choose to lead, we must build on our investment in the International Space Station, accelerate development of our next generation launch systems to enable expansion of human exploration, enhance NASA’s capability to study Earth’s environment,” he said.
Upon graduation from the Naval Academy in 1968, Bolden began a 34-year career with the Marine Corps that included flying more than 100 combat missions during the Vietnam War. As a NASA astronaut, Bolden flew four times on the Space Shuttle, commanding two of the missions.
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Photo courtesy of The Associated Press
Copyright 2009 Special to the NNPA from the South Carolina Black News. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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