President Trump Donald John TrumpTrump awards Medal of Valor, civilian honors to responders in Dayton and El Paso shootings Texas Democrats unveil 'path to victory' plan for 2020 The Hill's 12:30 Report: Congress returns with gun violence, funding atop agenda MORE on Friday named James Reilly, a former astronaut and oil exploration geologist, to lead the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS).

At USGS, which is part of the Interior Department, Reilly would be responsible for the nation’s information on main natural resources and natural hazard. USGS conducts research and monitoring in areas like biology, earthquakes and hydrology.

Reilly is currently a technical adviser on space operations at the Air Force’s National Security Space Institute.

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He’s worked as the chief geologist at oil exploration firm Enserch Exploration Inc. and has also worked at intellectual property and design firms.

Reilly spent 13 years at NASA, flying on three space shuttle missions and making five spacewalks, the White House said.

Reilly must be confirmed by the Senate to take the job.

Of the agencies within the Interior Department whose directors require Senate confirmation, only the Bureau of Reclamation and Office of Insular Affairs have confirmed heads.

Steven Gardner is awaiting confirmation to be director of Interior's Office of Surface Mining. </s> WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump on Friday nominated a former astronaut and longtime oil industry geologist to lead the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS).

James Reilly, 63, of Colorado Springs, Colorado, spent 13 years at NASA, flying on three space shuttle missions between 1998 and 2007 and logging more than 35 days in space. Before that, Reilly was a chief geologist for nearly 15 years at Dallas-based oil and gas company Enserch Exploration, Inc., where he focused on exploring offshore areas in the Gulf of Mexico.

That work “resulted in the discovery of over 115 million barrels of oil and over 1.5 trillion cubic feet of natural gas,” he writes on his LinkedIn page.

Along with his time in space, Reilly spent approximately 22 days in deep submergence vehicles, according to the American Association of Petroleum Geologists.

“Dr. Reilly currently serves United States and allied militaries as a subject matter expert on space operations, and he is a technical advisor supporting the National Security Space Institute of the U.S. Air Force,” the White House noted in a release Friday.

USGS is the scientific arm of the Interior Department and is responsible for monitoring and studying natural disasters, including earthquakes, tsunamis and volcanic eruptions, as well as managing water, energy and other natural resources.

If confirmed to the post by the Senate, Reilly will play a key role in the administration’s efforts to boost America’s production of critical minerals. In a December report, USGS found that the U.S. relies on foreign sources for a majority of the minerals essential in manufacturing, as Reuters reported.

“Other nations are far ahead of us with mapping of their mineral resources, leading to private sector investment overseas rather than right here at home,” Zinke said in a statements last month when he signed a secretarial order aimed at identifying domestic sources. “Drafting a complete topographical and geographic survey of the United States is exactly the kind of task the USGS was created to do.” </s> WASHINGTON (AP) -- The White House says President Donald Trump plans to nominate an Oklahoma congressman to serve as the next administrator of NASA.

Trump on Friday announced his pick of Republican Rep. Jim Bridenstine to lead the nation's space agency.

The congressman is a pilot in the U.S. Navy Reserve and a former executive director of the Tulsa Air and Space Museum and Planetarium. He was elected to Congress in 2012 and currently serves on House Armed Services Committee and the Science, Space and Technology Committee.

If confirmed by the Senate, Bridenstine would play a key role in Trump's plans to add human exploration of Mars to NASA's mission. NASA is aiming for astronauts on Mars sometime in the 2030s. </s> WASHINGTON (AP) — In a story Sept. 1 about President Donald Trump’s nominee for NASA administrator, The Associated Press reported erroneously that Oklahoma Rep. Jim Bridenstine is a Navy Reservist. Bridenstine is a member of the 137th Special Operations Wing of the Oklahoma Air National Guard.

A corrected version of the story is below:

The White House says President Donald Trump plans to nominate an Oklahoma congressman to serve as the next administrator of NASA

WASHINGTON (AP) — The White House says President Donald Trump plans to nominate an Oklahoma congressman to serve as the next administrator of NASA.

Trump on Friday announced his pick of Republican Rep. Jim Bridenstine to lead the nation’s space agency.

The congressman serves in the Oklahoma Air National Guard and is a former executive director of the Tulsa Air and Space Museum and Planetarium. He was elected to Congress in 2012 and currently serves on House Armed Services Committee and the Science, Space and Technology Committee.

If confirmed by the Senate, Bridenstine would play a key role in Trump’s plans to add human exploration of Mars to NASA’s mission. NASA is aiming for astronauts on Mars sometime in the 2030s. </s> Republican Rep. Jim Bridenstine is a pilot in the U.S. Navy Reserve and a former executive director of the Tulsa Air and Space Museum and Planetarium. He was elected to Congress in 2012.

WASHINGTON — The White House says President Donald Trump plans to nominate an Oklahoma congressman to serve as the next administrator of NASA.

Trump on Friday announced his pick of Republican Rep. Jim Bridenstine to lead the nation's space agency.

The congressman is a pilot in the U.S. Navy Reserve and a former executive director of the Tulsa Air and Space Museum and Planetarium. He was elected to Congress in 2012 and currently serves on House Armed Services Committee and the Science, Space and Technology Committee.

If confirmed by the Senate, Bridenstine would play a key role in Trump's plans to add human exploration of Mars to NASA's mission. NASA is aiming for astronauts on Mars sometime in the 2030s. </s> Rep. Jim Bridenstine, an Oklahoma Republican, was confirmed Thursday as NASA's 13th administrator after months of partisan wrangling over his lack of experience in the space arena and prior statements questioning human contributions to climate change.

In an extremely close party-line vote, Bridenstine was confirmed 50-49, seven-and-a-half months after President Trump picked him to lead the civilian space agency. It was the most contentious nomination process in recent NASA history with most previous administrators confirmed unanimously or with little opposition.

"It is an honor to be confirmed by the United States Senate to serve as NASA administrator," Bridenstine said in a statement. "I am humbled by this opportunity, and I once again thank President Donald Trump and Vice President Mike Pence for their confidence.

"I look forward to working with the outstanding team at NASA to achieve the President's vision for American leadership in space."

Bridenstine will take over from acting NASA Administrator Robert Lightfoot, who has been leading the civilian space agency since its previous administrator, former shuttle commander Charles Bolden, retired in the wake of the 2016 elections. Lightfoot's retirement is effective at the end of the month.

Pence, who chairs the National Space Council, tweeted his congratulations:

Congrats Rep Bridenstine on being confirmed as the next @NASA Administrator! Under @POTUS, America will lead in space once again. We look forward to working with Jim Bridenstine to restore America’s proud legacy of leadership in space- essential to our nat'l security & prosperity — Vice President Mike Pence (@VP) April 19, 2018

As might be expected, Bridenstine supports President Trump's space policy, which calls for ending full government support of the International Space Station in 2025 and encouraging development of more commercial activity in low-Earth orbit, freeing NASA up to pursue a return to the moon and eventual piloted missions to Mars.

"I've been talking to Jim, and I know he's eager to begin leading this team," said Lightfoot. "He joins our great agency at a time when we are poised to accomplish historic milestones across the full spectrum of our work.

"I know first-hand how talented and dedicated our workforce is, and that all of you stand ready to work with our new administrator to accomplish our exciting goals, including returning Americans to the moon."

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A former Navy combat pilot, Bridenstine was elected to represent Oklahoma's first congressional district in 2012, serving on the House Armed Services Committee and the Science, Space and Technology Committee.

He accumulated 1,900 hours flying time and 333 carrier landings flying E-2C Hawkeyes and, later, F-18 Hornets before leaving active duty to serve as executive director of the Tulsa Air and Space Museum & Planetarium. He majored in economics psychology and business at Rice University and holds an MBA from Cornell University.

He is the first politician to be named NASA administrator and his lack of professional space experience and technical education prompted strong criticism from Democrats, including Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Florida, who has long worked on space-related issues and who flew in orbit aboard the shuttle Columbia as a guest astronaut in January 1986.

"The NASA administrator should be a consummate space professional ... not a politician," Nelson said earlier this week. "More importantly, the administrator must be a leader who has the ability to bring us together to unite scientists and engineers and commercial space interests and policymakers and the public on a shared vision for future space exploration."

Nelson described Bridenstine's congressional behavior as "divisive as any in Washington," and said the nominee was "not prepared to be the last in line to make that fateful decision on go or no-go for launch."

During Bridenstine's confirmation hearing, critics also challenged past comments about climate change. In a 2016 interview with Aerospace America, he questioned human contributions to climate change, saying "it has always changed."

"There were periods of time long before the internal combustion engine when the Earth was much warmer than it is today," he said. "Going back to the 1600s, we have had mini ice ages from then to now."

"That's why we need to continue studying it," he said when asked if humans might, in fact, be playing a role. "Again, I am not opposed to studying it. What you'll find though is that the space-based assets that are studying climate change are not in agreement with the terrestrial assets that are studying climate change."

Many experts disagree with that assertion and during his confirmation hearing, Bridenstine said he believes human activity contributes to the buildup of greenhouse gases but would not say how significant that contribution might be. He did, however, promised that "science would drive the mission at NASA," Politico reported.

"Should I be confirmed, it will be my intention to build off the work done by the great people at NASA during the last administration," he said. "We must all do this together."

The Commercial Spaceflight Federation applauded the confirmation, saying in a statement that "NASA needs dedicated and inspired leadership, and Representative Bridenstine is an outstanding choice to provide precisely that."

The Coalition for Deep Space Exploration agreed. President and CEO Mary Lynne Dittmar said the "coalition and its member companies stand ready to support Administrator Bridenstine as we take the next steps in the exploration of deep space, returning to the Moon and going on to Mars. </s> US President Donald Trump is expected to nominate House Representative Jim Bridenstine as NASA's new administrator as soon as September 5, the media reported.

"Several space industry sources, speaking on background, said they anticipated a formal nomination of Bridenstine to run the space agency on 5 September, the day after the Labor Day holiday," said spacenews.com, an American news site covering the space industry, on Friday, Xinhua reported.

"That schedule could slip, though, depending on other events and general uncertainty about the timing of administration decisions."

The website said Bridenstine has been active on space issues in Congress and was also a staunch supporter of Trump's candidacy in the general election.

The Oklahoma Congressman has called for a human return to the Moon before NASA embarks upon a mission to Mars.

Currently, NASA is led by acting administrator, Robert Lightfoot, who has been in that position for more than seven months.

Meanwhile, Asteroid Florence, named in honour of Florence Nightingale (1820-1910), the founder of modern nursing, is set to pass by Earth at 8.05 am ET. "While many known asteroids have passed by closer to Earth than Florence. They were estimated to be smaller," said Paul Chodas, Manager of NASA's Centre for Near-Earth Object Studies (CNEOS) at the agency's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California. </s> WASHINGTON: The US Senate has confirmed President Donald Trump-nominated Representative Jim Bridenstine to lead the US space agency.

The Senate narrowly on Thursday voted 50-49 on partisan lines to confirm Bridenstine to serve as NASA's 13th administrator.

Bridenstine, a pilot in the US Navy Reserve and former executive director of the Tulsa Air and Space Museum and Planetarium, was elected to the US Congress in 2012 to represent Oklahoma's First Congressional District.

He currently serves on the House Armed Services Committee and the Science, Space and Technology Committee.

"I am pleased to have Rep. Bridenstine nominated to lead our team. I look forward to ensuring a smooth transition and sharing the great work the NASA team is doing," acting NASA Administrator Robert Lightfoot said in a statement.

"It is an honour to be confirmed by the US Senate to serve as NASA Administrator," said Bridenstine.

Bridenstine will take over from Lightfoot, who has been leading the space agency since its previous administrator Charles Bolden, retired in the wake of the 2016 elections.

"I am humbled by this opportunity,... I look forward to working with the outstanding team at NASA to achieve the President's vision for American leadership in space," Bridenstine added.

"Congrats Rep Bridenstine on being confirmed as the next @NASA Administrator! Under @POTUS, America will lead in space once again," tweeted Vice President Mike Pence. </s> US President Donald Trump is expected to nominate House Representative Jim Bridenstine as NASA’s new administrator as soon as September 5, the media reported.

“Several space industry sources, speaking on background, said they anticipated a formal nomination of Bridenstine to run the space agency on September 5, the day after the Labor Day holiday,” said spacenews.com — an American news site covering the space industry — on Friday, Xinhua reported.

“That schedule could slip, though, depending on other events and general uncertainty about the timing of administration decisions.”

The website said Bridenstine has been active on space issues in Congress and was also a staunch supporter of Trump’s candidacy in the general election.

The Oklahoma Congressman has called for a human return to the Moon before NASA embarks upon a mission to Mars.

Currently, NASA is led by acting administrator, Robert Lightfoot, who has been in that position for more than seven months.
U.S. President Donald Trump names former NASA astronaut James F. Reilly as leader of the U.S. Geological Survey.