Seven months ago, NASA fumbled the ball.
Tuesday February 11, SpaceX CEO Elon Musk
picked it up.
In July 2019, NASA shocked space fans and
Congress with its announcement that it was
removing William Gerstenmaier from his post,
and naming him merely a "special advisor to
NASA's deputy administrator" instead.
Space fans viewed the move as a demotion -- and
not just space fans, but honest-to-goodness
Congress people -- the people in charge of
funding NASA's budget.
But NASA's loss could be SpaceX's gain.
This Tuesday february11, SpaceX has hired
away Gerstenmaier to work in its own "mission
assurance" department.
There, the man many consider "one of the world's
top specialists in flying humans in space"
should be able to provide invaluable insight
into NASA's priorities in choosing winners
and losers for its crewed space missions.
In this video Engineering Today will discuss
SpaceX Crew Dragon which is set to carry astronauts
soon.
Why SpaceX hires NASA's former head of human
spaceflight in surprise move?
Let’s get into details.
SpaceX is only a couple of months away from
its first attempt at launching astronauts
and now the company has brought in one of
the foremost experts in human spaceflight
to help it do so successfully.
SpaceX has confirmed that William Gerstenmaier,
has joined the company as a consultant as
it prepares to launch astronauts for the first
time.
Former NASA Administrator Charles Bolden,
a veteran shuttle commander, tweeted congratulations,
calling it “a tremendous addition to the
SpaceX team while keeping Bill in the greater
human spaceflight family.
He will help make an already excellent team
even better.
Congrats to you Bill and to SpaceX!!!”
This is a consequential hire for SpaceX—it
is difficult to overstate the influence Gerstenmaier
has over human spaceflight both in the United
States and abroad.
He led NASA's space shuttle, International
Space Station, commercial crew, and exploration
programs for more than a decade.
He immediately brings credibility to the company's
safety culture.
Former Space Shuttle Program Manager Wayne
Hale, who now chairs the human spaceflight
committee of NASA's Advisory Council, told
last summer, "Bill was recognized by everybody
as being technically well-grounded and very
astute.
He was known to listen carefully and to make
his judgments based on good technical reasons."
Gerstenmaier, known throughout the aerospace
community simply as “Gerst,” joined the
agency in 1977 and rose through the ranks
to play key roles in the development of what
became the International Space Station.
He also managed NASA participation with Roscosmos
in the shuttle-Mir program and served as the
overall space station program manager before
becoming associate administrator for spaceflight
at NASA Headquarters in 2005.
He became associate administrator for human
exploration and operations in 2011 when NASA
merged its exploration and space operations
mission directorates.
Gerstenmaier held that position, which oversaw
the International Space Station, commercial
cargo and crew, and Space Launch System and
Orion programs until July 10.
But NASA abruptly announced that day that
Gerstenmaier would be reassigned to serve
as a special advisor to NASA Deputy Administrator
Jim Morhard.
Gerstenmaier’s deputy, Bill Hill, was reassigned
to a similar position at the same time.
His reassignment took many both inside and
outside the agency by surprise.
He was demoted by NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine
in July 2019, in large part to clear the way
for a new management team to oversee final
development of the rockets, spacecraft and
infrastructure needed to send astronauts back
to the moon under the Artemis program.
Jim Bridenstine felt the space agency's exploration
programs were not moving forward fast enough.
Sources reported at the time that this decision
shook some of the agency's partners, who were
comfortable with the long-time leader of NASA's
human spaceflight program.
Some called the engineer in tears after hearing
the news.
Gerstenmaier was highly regarded at NASA,
and in the broader space community, for his
expertise and leadership during tumultuous
times at the agency, including the retirement
of the shuttle, cancellation of the Constellation
program and the greater reliance on commercial
providers to transport cargo and, soon, astronauts
to and from the station.
That reputation extends outside the United
States as well.
“Congrats to SpaceX with hiring an outstanding
Aerospace Engineer, former NASA Head of Human
Exploration Program William Gerstenmaier,”
tweeted Dmitry Rogozin, head of the Russian
space agency Roscosmos.
“His role in the ISS project was tremendous.
I wish my friend Bill every success in his
new position!”
In his new position, Gerstenmaier is reporting
to Hans Koenigsmann, the vice president of
mission assurance at SpaceX.
Although the role is officially a consultancy,
it is expected to become a full-time position.
The hiring could have longer-term implications
as well.
Few people in the global aerospace community
have as much gravitas as Gerstenmaier or as
much understanding of how to build coalitions
to explore space.
As SpaceX seeks partners—including NASA—to
work with it on developing Starship to take
humans to the Moon and Mars, Gerstenmaier
is well-positioned to offer advice, stitch
together mission plans, and open key doors.
Gerstenmaier and SpaceX have a complicated
relationship, but he has supported Elon Musk
at key moments during the company's development.
In the wake of the 2003 Columbia disaster,
NASA was ordered to retire the space shuttle
by the end of the decade.
NASA had to quickly come up with another way
to ship supplies and equipment to the outpost
and on Dec. 23, 2008, Gerstenmaier announced
SpaceX and Orbital Sciences had won contracts
to build and launch commercial cargo ships.
When the $1.6 billion SpaceX contract was
announced, founder Elon Musk said the company
was virtually out of money after three straight
failures of its Falcon 1 rocket.
The rocket succeeded on its fourth attempt
in September 2008, but the path forward was
far from clear.
Gerstenmaier's decision to maintain two competitors
as part of the commercial crew program in
2014 (SpaceX and Boeing) was also essential,
although it was not a company-saving move.
Boeing was lobbying hard for all of the funds
and very nearly got them.
Gerstenmaier was the deciding official who
kept two providers in the competition.
It has proven to be a smart decision, as SpaceX
is poised to beat Boeing into space by months,
if not years, at 50 percent less cost.
His hiring at SpaceX comes at a critical time
for Elon Musk’s space company, which is
planning its first launch of NASA astronauts.
Called “Demo-2,” the mission would fly
two astronauts in a SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule
to the International Space Station.
It would be the first time since the end of
the Space Shuttle program in 2011 that the
U.S. has flown its own astronauts to space.
SpaceX, is expected to carry NASA astronauts
as soon as this spring in a Crew Dragon demonstration
flight.
Gerstenmaier will play a key role in ensuring
the safety of those missions and helping SpaceX
secure certification for the Crew Dragon vehicle.
That voyage is tentatively set for May, ArsTechnica’s
senior space editor, Eric Berger, said on
Twitter that the working date for SpaceX’s
Demo-2 mission is May 7, however, Berger further
notes that the launch date is fluid and could
be moved up into late April or pushed back
later into May depending on issues not related
to hardware.
Eric Berger reported this on Monday, citing
discussions with space agency officials.
SpaceX already completed its uncrewed test
flight, Demo-1, in March 2019 and an In-Flight
Abort test last month, the final major milestone
before the crew test flight can take place.
SpaceX Crew Dragon launches take place from
Kennedy Space Center’s Launch Complex 39A,
which it leases from NASA.
Two NASA astronauts, Bob Behnken and Doug
Hurley, will fly the SpaceX crewed flight
test, dubbed Demo-2.
The mission is officially scheduled as a short
test flight of a few days, but NASA is deciding
whether to keep them aboard for a long duration
mission instead.
The ISS crew complement usually is six, but
has been reduced to three until the commercial
crew systems are flying.
Three crew members returned to Earth last
week, leaving two NASA astronauts and one
Russian cosmonaut on board (Meir, Morgan and
Skripochka).
NASA has been purchasing seats on Russian
Soyuz spacecraft since the space shuttle program
was terminated in 2011, but with the advent
of the commercial crew systems, Russia has
reduced the Soyuz production rate and only
two instead of four Soyuz launches per year
are planned.
NASA has a seat on the next one in April that
will deliver one NASA and two Russian crew
members, after which Meir and her crewmates
will return to Earth.
That will leave a crew of three — Cassidy,
Tikhonov and Babkin — on board.
NASA does not any have seats on future Soyuz
missions although it is negotiating for one
this fall and perhaps another next spring
in case the commercial crew systems are further delayed.
