Bill Gerstenmaier
Bill Gerstenmaier
William H. Gerstenmaieris the current Associate Administrator for Human Exploration and Operations for NASA, holding this position since 2005. He has been described as "arguably the most influential person when it comes to US spaceflight." Prior to being Associate Administrator, Gerstenmaier served as the International Space Station Office Program Manager, at Johnson Space Center, a position he began in June 2002...
extra fits flight flow helps looking march missions move robust sequence shuttle space station support sure time work
It really makes sense to move to the March timeframe, ... We're looking at the Shuttle missions to support the most robust flight sequence for the Space Station and to make the whole sequence flow better. This extra time helps us make sure that all the work we need to do fits and that there are no other issues.
flight spring
We don't need to have a flight this spring to make the 19 flights.
flights good number station
We still are going to be able to accommodate the number of flights we need to get the station in a good configuration for the partners.
cracking drive flight focus period phenomenon spring understanding
The focus has got to be on understanding the cracking phenomenon and working out an engineering solution, and then that will drive us to what we think the right period is for launch. We don't need to have a flight this spring to make the 19 flights.
coming crew good great soft week
It's great to see you all on orbit. Have a good week and soft landings to the crew coming back.
facility good question workforce
The (Michoud) facility is in pretty good shape. The question is, what does the workforce want to do?
facility good
The (Michoud) facility is in pretty good shape,
capability complete flying investment ourselves overly prepare small soon space station tremendous
We want to get back flying as soon as we can, but we're not overly pressured. We'll do that at the right time. This is a small investment to get back a tremendous capability and that is to complete the International Space Station (and) prepare ourselves for exploration.
aiming clearly launch looks setting
We don't say we're setting a launch date, but we're clearly aiming for May. May looks very doable.
foolish launch particular speculate variables
At this point, ... it's so uncertain, there are so many variables out there, I think it's foolish for us to try to speculate on a particular launch date.
foolish speculate uncertain
At this point, it's so uncertain ... that it would be foolish to speculate on a date.
best
We think the best thing to do is just take them off.
best
We think that's the best thing to do, just take it off.
applies continuous directly great ground learned operating proving station
The station is a great proving ground for exploration. We've learned a lot about operating internationally and a lot about continuous operation, all of which applies directly to exploration.