Instruct: Given a question, retrieve relevant passages that can help answer the question.
Query: Who is the current head of NASA?
James Frederick Bridenstine (born June 15, 1975) is an American politician and the Administrator of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). Bridenstine served as the United States Representative for Oklahoma's 1st congressional district, based in Tulsa from January 3, 2013 to April 23, 2018. He is a member of the Republican Party.
The Administrator and Deputy Administrator of NASA are the highest-ranked officials of NASA, the space agency of the United States Federal Government. The Administrator serves as the senior space science advisor to the President of the United States. According to NASA, the role of the Administrator is to "lead the NASA team and manage its resources to advance the Vision for Space Exploration." The Deputy Administrator of NASA "serves as the agency’s second in command and is responsible to the administrator for providing overall leadership, planning, and policy direction for the agency. They represent NASA to the Executive Office of the President, Congress, heads of federal and other appropriate government agencies, international organizations, and external organizations and communities. They also oversee the day to day work of NASA’s functional offices, such as the Office of the Chief Financial Officer, Office of General Counsel and Strategic Communications", according to NASA (referring to Shana Dale).
Donnelly had worked at the National Hydraulic Laboratory for Hugh L. Dryden, who became NASA deputy administrator in 1958. Dryden recommended Donnelly to Robert R. Gilruth, head of NASA's Space Task Group at Langley, Virginia, who hired him.
The medal was original awarded by the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics and was inherited by NASA. The first NASA version (type I), featuring the NASA seal, was issued from 1959 until 1964, when it was replaced by the current type II medal (shown).
 the corps has 38 active astronauts and 18 "management astronauts", who are "employed at NASA but are no longer eligible for flight assignment". The highest number of active astronauts at one time, was in 2000 when there were 149. All of the current astronaut corps are from the classes of 1996 (Group 16) or later.
The company was founded in 1966 by Daniel Wilde, a professor of computer science at the University of Connecticut (UCONN). Nerac began operating in 1966 as the New England Research Application Center, an experimental collaboration between the University of Connecticut and the National Aeronautics & Space Administration (NASA). In 1985, Nerac separated from the University of Connecticut and incorporated under the name Nerac, Inc. Having succeeded in its NASA-sponsored mission, Nerac severed its ties with NASA in 1991. An article by NASA Exploring the Unknown talks about the benefits of NASA "Spinoff" technology. Currently, Nerac provides clients access to analysts who serve as advisors and deliver custom assessments of product and technology development opportunities, competitive threats, intellectual property strategies, compliance requirements, and scientific review and problem-solving.
NASA is training for the first manned mission to Mars by the spacecraft "Aries". Due to a supposed glitch in the computer navigation system, NASA looks for the original programmer of the software to understand why it seems to be broken. Fred Z. Randall (Harland Williams), the programmer who wrote the software, meets Paul Wick (Jeffrey DeMunn), the flight director of the Mars mission; William "Wild Bill" Overbeck (William Sadler), the commander of the Mars mission; and astronaut Gary Hackman (Peter Onorati), the computer specialist. After a display of hard-headed stubbornness by Gary, he is hit in the head by a model of the "Pilgrim 1" Mars lander, resulting in a skull fracture. NASA decides to replace him instead of delaying the mission. Fred is brought to NASA to see if he has what it takes to be an astronaut; he, along with Gordon Peacock, go through a series of exercises, which sees Fred do well, even going as far to break every record that Bill had. In the end, Fred gets the job.
The chief author of NASA's budget proposal is John Culberson, the head of the science subcommittee in the House of Representatives. In Spring 2015 he presented a budget request, creating the possibility of an all-new NASA mission program. The House Appropriations Committee approved its version of the FY2016 House Appropriations Commerce-Justice-Science (CJS) bill on May 20, 2015. Therefore, the Committee directed NASA to create an Ocean Worlds Exploration Program whose primary goal is to discover extant life on another world using a mix of Discovery, New Frontiers and Flagship class missions consistent with the recommendations of current and future Planetary Science Decadal Surveys.
In 2015 NASA announced it had begun a feasibility study into the possibility of orbital missions to Uranus and Neptune, within a budget of $2 billion in 2015 dollars. According to NASA’s planetary science director Jim Green, who initiated the study, such missions would launch in the late 2020s at the earliest, and would be contingent upon their endorsement by the planetary science community, as well as NASA’s ability to provide nuclear power sources for the spacecraft. Conceptual designs for such a mission are currently being analyzed.
NASA Robotic Mining Competition (NASA RMC) is a competition established in 2010 for university students to build a mining robot that is designed to navigate on the Martian surface. One team per school is allowed to compete and around 50 schools compete each year. The teams should compose of at least 2 undergraduate students and graduate students who are enrolled in the current school year. The teams also need to include a current faculty member or advisor. There is no limit to the number of members but NASA advises the teams to have a sufficient and manageable size. While the competition is focused on graduate and undergraduate students from four year institutions, invitations are also extended to teams from community colleges. The latest (ninth annual) competition, in May 2018, resulted in the team from the University of Alabama, Alabama Astrobotics, winning for the fourth consecutive year.
The term "Astronaut Candidate" (informally "ASCAN") refers to individuals who have been selected by NASA as candidates for the NASA Astronaut Corps and are currently undergoing a candidacy training program at the Johnson Space Center. The most recent class of Astronaut Candidates was selected in 2017 after receiving more than 18,300 applications. Upon completion of a two-year training program, they will be promoted to the rank of Astronaut.
Currently he is a program officer at the Space Studies Board of the National Research Council in Washington, D.C. In that capacity he has served as a study director for several studies for NASA. These studies include "Space Radiation Hazards and the Vision for Space Exploration," "Building a Better NASA Workforce: Meeting the Workforce Needs for the National Vision for Space Exploration," "Grading NASA's Solar System Exploration Program: A Midterm Report," "Opening New Frontiers in Space: Choices for the Next New Frontiers Announcement of Opportunity," and "Science Opportunities Provided by NASA's Constellation System." He was recently the study director of a study to assess detection and mitigation strategies for near-Earth object hazards which produced the report "Defending Planet Earth: Near-Earth-Object Survey and Hazard Mitigation Strategies," and co-study director of an analysis of radioisotope power systems for robotic spacecraft. He is currently assistant study director of the planetary science decadal survey. He is also currently study director of a study on the future of NASA's spaceflight crew office, and a study of NASA's flight research projects, both for the Aeronautics and Space Engineering Board. 
There are currently 19 "international active astronauts", "who are assigned to duties at the Johnson Space Center", who were selected by their home agency but trained with and serve alongside their NASA counterparts. International astronauts, Payload Specialists, and Spaceflight Participants are not considered members of the NASA Astronaut Corps.
Melba Roy Mouton (1929-1990) was an African-American woman who served as Assistant Chief of Research Programs at NASA's Trajectory and Geodynamics Division in the 1960s and headed a group of NASA mathematicians called "computers". Starting as a mathematician, she was head mathematician for Echo Satellites 1 and 2, and she worked up to being a Head Computer Programmer and then Program Production Section Chief at Goddard Space Flight Center.
George Edwin Mueller (; July 16, 1918 – October 12, 2015), was an American electrical engineer who was an associate administrator at NASA who headed the Office of Manned Space Flight from September 1963 until December 1969. Hailed as one of NASA's "most brilliant and fearless managers", he was instrumental in introducing the all-up testing philosophy for the Saturn V launch vehicle, which ensured the success of the Apollo program in landing a man on the Moon and returning him safely to the Earth by the end of 1969. Mueller also played a key part in the design of Skylab, and championed the space shuttle's development, which earned him the nickname, "the father of the space shuttle."
The current Horace Mann Nursery Division Head is Marcia Levy, who replaced Patricia Zuroski when she was appointed to the position of Director of Diversity Initiatives. The current Lower Division Head is Dina Neuwirth, replacing Wendy Steinthal, who departed in June 2016. The current Middle Division Head is Thomas M. Kelly (also school Head), replacing Robin Ann Ingram who departed in 2018. The current Upper Division head is Dr. Jessica Levenstein, who replaced Dr. David Schiller in 2016. Glenn Sherratt is the current Director of the John Dorr Nature Laboratory.
On September 1, 2017, the White House announced that Bridenstine was President Donald Trump's preferred pick to head NASA. The choice was quickly criticized by both Republican and Democratic politicians, saying that NASA should be headed by a "space professional", not a politician or a Trump ally.[28] Critics drew attention to Bridenstine's lack of formal qualifications in science or engineering (unlike previous appointees to that post).[29][30] Florida Republican senator Marco Rubio said that Bridenstine's political history could prove controversial and delay the confirmation process, saying "I just think it could be devastating for the space program", while Democratic Senator Bill Nelson, also of Florida and a former Payload Specialist for NASA who flew on STS-61-C, said "The head of NASA ought to be a space professional, not a politician."[31][30] CNN found that Bridenstine's Facebook, YouTube and Twitter accounts were entirely deleted, while most of the interviews on his Soundcloud were deleted, at a time when Congress would be examining his record for his confirmation hearing.[32]
The Chief of the Astronaut Office is the most senior leadership position for active astronauts in the Corps. The Chief Astronaut serves as head of the Corps and is the principal adviser to the NASA Administrator on astronaut training and operations. The first Chief Astronaut was Deke Slayton, appointed in 1962. The current Chief Astronaut is Patrick Forrester.
Michael Douglas Griffin is an American physicist and aerospace engineer who is the current Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering. He previously served as Administrator of NASA, the U.S. space agency, from April 13, 2005, to January 20, 2009. As NASA Administrator Griffin oversaw such areas as the future of human spaceflight, the fate of the Hubble telescope and NASA's role in understanding climate change. In April 2009 Griffin, who has an academic background, was named eminent scholar and a professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering at the University of Alabama in Huntsville.
NASA also accepts proposals for competitively selected Discovery Program Missions of Opportunity. This provides opportunities to participate in non-NASA missions by providing funding for a science instrument or hardware components of a science instrument or to re-purpose an existing NASA spacecraft. These opportunities are currently offered through NASA's Stand Alone Mission of Opportunity program.
Sandra Cauffman (born May 10, 1962) is a Costa Rican specialist in electrical engineering and physics. She is very well known because of her work at NASA in different projects. Her profile has been highlighted by UN Women for being a positive example for women, especially, youth and children. Cauffman worked for 25 years at the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, MD in missions such as the mission to Mars MAVEN, and Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite GOES-R. She is currently the Deputy Director of the Earth Sciences Division within the Science Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters in Washington DC. Cauffman, who started as a contractor with NASA on February 1, 1988 and became a NASA employee February 11, 1991. Cauffman is the first Costa Rican woman to lead a Mars-related mission.
Immediately after the fire, Shea and his ASPO colleagues at Houston boarded a NASA plane to the Kennedy Space Center. They landed at about 1:00 a.m., only five hours after the fire had broken out. At a meeting that morning with Robert Gilruth, George Mueller and George Low, Shea helped to determine the individuals who would be on the NASA review board looking into the causes of the fire. Additionally, he persuaded George Mueller, head of NASA's Office of Manned Space Flight, to allow him to act as Mueller's deputy in Florida, supervising the progress of the investigation.
NASA X is a half-hour television program and vodcast developed by AMA Studios in partnership with the NASA Langley Research Center. The program premiered in August 2012. It currently airs on DIRECTV, cable, iTunes, Hulu, NASA Television, and is available on certain aircraft as in-flight entertainment. The program is consistently one of the top downloaded programs on NASA.gov. It is currently starting its fourth season.
NASA also created a new Office of Safety, Reliability and Quality Assurance, headed as the commission had specified by a NASA associate administrator who reported directly to the NASA administrator. George Rodney, formerly of Martin Marietta, was appointed to this position. Former "Challenger" flight director Jay Greene became chief of the Safety Division of the directorate.
The NASA Academy is NASA's premiere leadership training program for undergraduate and graduate students. Since its founding in 1993, the NASA Academy has brought together future leaders of the aerospace industry and exposed them to the inner workings of NASA, academia, and industry. The Academy consists of a ten-week summer program hosted by a participating NASA center. Currently there are academies at Langley Research Center, Ames Research Center, Marshall Space Flight Center and Glenn Research Center. Goddard Space Flight Center and Dryden Flight Research Center previously hosted NASA Academies, as well.