Trump to nominate Oklahoma congressman to lead NASA

Official portrait of Congressman Jim Bridenstine (Photo By United States Congress, Public Domain)

WASHINGTON — The White House says President Donald Trump plans to nominate an Oklahoma congressman to serve as the next administrator of NASA.

Trump on Friday announced his pick of Republican Rep.

Jim Bridenstine to lead the nation’s space agency.

The congressman is a pilot in the U.

S. Navy Reserve and a former executive director of the Tulsa Air and Space Museum and Planetarium. He was elected to Congress in 2012 and currently serves on House Armed Services Committee and the Science, Space and Technology Committee.

If confirmed by the Senate, Bridenstine would play a key role in Trump’s plans to add human exploration of Mars to NASA’s mission. NASA is aiming for astronauts on Mars sometime in the 2030s.