Bolden, the third African-American to fly in space, had met with Obama at the White House on Tuesday, the day the Hubble Space Telescope was relaunched from the shuttle Atlantis. The five-spacewalk overhaul marked NASA's fifth and final visit to the storied telescope since Bolden helped launch it in 1990.
An announcement naming Bolden, 62, as Obama's candidate to head the civilian space agency came four months after the departure of former administrator Mike Griffin, a rocket scientist appointed by the Bush administration to oversee the shuttle's 2010 retirement and a planned return to the moon.
"The president could not have made a better choice," Griffin told CBS News. "Charlie Bolden is an accomplished pilot, a veteran astronaut, and an old friend. He has spent his life in the service of his country, and our nation is the better for it. NASA will be in good hands."
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