Daniel Goldin | |
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Official NASA photo
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9th Administrator of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration | |
In office April 1, 1992 – November 17, 2001 |
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President |
George H.W. Bush Bill Clinton George W. Bush |
Preceded by | Richard H. Truly |
Succeeded by | Daniel R. Mulville (Acting) |
Personal details | |
Born |
Daniel Saul Goldin July 23, 1940 New York City, New York |
Nationality | American |
Alma mater | City College of New York, B.S. 1962 |
Occupation | President & CEO of KnuEdge (formerly Intellisis) |
Daniel Saul Goldin (born July 23, 1940) served as the 9th and longest-tenured Administrator of NASA from April 1, 1992, to November 17, 2001. He was appointed by President George H. W. Bush and also served under Presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush.
Born in New York City, Goldin earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering from the City College of New York in 1962. He began his career at NASA's Lewis Research Center in Cleveland, Ohio that year, and worked on electric propulsion systems for human interplanetary travel.
Goldin left NASA a few years later to work at the TRW Space and Technology Group in Redondo Beach, California. During a 25-year career at TRW, Goldin eventually became Vice President and General Manager and led projects that conceptualized and produced advanced communication spacecraft, space technologies, and scientific instruments.
When Goldin returned to NASA as administrator, he pioneered the "faster, better, cheaper" approach that proposed NASA could cut costs while still delivering a wide variety of aerospace programs. The approach ultimately proved controversial with the loss of several missions to Mars due to project management failures. During his administration, Goldin supervised projects such as the Mars Pathfinder, Hubble Space Telescope servicing missions, and the International Space Station. Goldin initially promoted a low-cost manned lunar project, but following the 1996 announcement that evidence had been found of biological activity in Martian meteorite ALH-84001, the focus was shifted to unmanned Mars probes.