Parsons Replaces Dittemore

The man NASA hopes will lead the space program out of the dark days following the Columbia tragedy now has a name.

Bill Parsons.

The 46-year old manager of the Stennis Space Center in Mississippi will replace Shuttle Program Manager Ron Dittemore, who announced last month that he would soon leave NASA.

NASA's associate administrator for spaceflight, Michael Kostelnik, was quoted by UPI as saying the agency looked "far and wide" for a suitable replacement for Dittemore. "We could not have asked for a better candidate. This is not a job that just anyone can do."

No Transition Date

As the Columbia investigation continues, as NASA struggles to find meaning and a cure for the shuttle's disintegration over Texas, Dittemore's plans for leaving the space agency have been even further delayed. Dittemore will stay on for several months to ensure a smooth transition, Kostelnik said.

As of now, a NASA spokesman told UPI, "The transition is designed to last through the summer if necessary."

Kostelnik described Parsons as "a great leader and solid manager but has not been involved intimately with some of the moving parts of the shuttle and ... this will give him a reasonable time to do a graceful transition."

Parsons is a former Marine who joined the space program in 1990. He worked on payload integration for the shuttle Discovery. In 1996, he took over as manager of Hardware Integration for the Space Station Office at KSC.

He's An Optimist

Speaking of life after the Columbia disaster, which claimed the lives of seven astronauts, Parsons said, "I came to this job thinking that we're going to fly again and that's what my job is, is to find out what we need to fix, to fix it and get back to flight." Regarding suggestions by some in Congress that the shuttle fleet be permanently grounded, Parsons said Friday, "I find it troublesome maybe that there are thoughts like that out there but we have to work our way through that. I think we can fly the shuttle safely and so we look forward to doing that in the future."

FMI: www.spaceflight.nasa.gov