Inquiring Minds: James Head on NASA chief's departure

Daniel Goldin, who has headed the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) for the past 10 years, recently announced his resignation from the space agency. Throughout his tenure, Goldin has maintained a close relationship with Brown, especially with those in geological sciences. Brown’s planetary scientists — and their students — have participated in dozens of NASA-funded missions and projects over the past decade.

Goldin’s "faster, better, cheaper" approach has come under attack from some critics, but his admirers at Brown call him nothing less than a visionary. GSJ writer Cynthia Ferguson recently asked James Head, professor of geological sciences, to comment on Goldin’s tenure and departure. Here’s what he said:

"Dan Goldin was a visionary administrator who personally took to heart solar system exploration, and, in particular, the exploration of Mars. He was instrumental in the continuation of NASA’s role in monitoring the Earth for environmental and climate change — something of a ‘Mission to Planet Earth.’

"He visited Brown several times, with Congressman Kennedy, and he was always enthusiastic about the role that Brown undergraduate and graduate students played in NASA’s missions and in the interpretation of the results for everything from the moons of Jupiter to the water in Narragansett Bay. He was particularly thrilled with the outreach that Brown does in the K-12 schools in the state of Rhode Island.

"We hope that the new administrator will share Dan Goldin’s enthusiasm for space and the role that research and teaching have in NASA’s mission."