Daniel Goldin

For the American journalist, see Daniel Golden.

Daniel Goldin
9th Administrator of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration
In office April 1, 1992 – November 17, 2001
President	George H.W. Bush Bill Clinton George W. Bush
Preceded by	Richard H. Truly
Succeeded by	Sean O'Keefe
Personal details
Born	Daniel Saul Goldin (1940-07-23) July 23, 1940 New York City
Nationality	American
Spouse	Judy Goldin (m. 1962)
Children	2
Alma mater	City College of New York, B.S. 1962
Occupation	Founder of Cold Canyon AI
Known for	Longest-tenured Administrator of NASA

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. He is an entrepreneur and technologist. Most recently he is the founder of Cold Canyon AI, an innovation advisory company. His career has spanned numerous technologies and businesses in space science, aeronautics, national security, semiconductors, and artificial intelligence.

Early Life

Born in New York City, Goldin earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering from the City College of New York in 1962.

Career

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.

TRW

During a 25-year career at TRW - now Northrop Grumman -, Goldin eventually became Vice President and General Manager where he oversaw a broad range of advanced space and technology developments focused on America’s national security, scientific exploration of our solar system, space telescopes to observe our high energy universe, and development of advanced technologies for the global marketplace. He conceptualized and produced advanced communication spacecraft, space technologies, and scientific instruments.

NASA Administrator

During his tenure, the Agency's civil service workforce was reduced by about a third, while the Headquarters' civil service and contractor workforce was reduced by more than half. These reductions were accomplished without resorting to forced layoffs. At the same time, NASA's productivity gains climbed 40 per cent.

Goldin also cut the time required to develop Earth- and space science spacecraft by 40 per cent and reduced the cost by two-thirds, while increasing the average number of missions launched per year about four times. During the same time, Space Shuttle costs were reduced by about a third, while all safety indicators and mission capabilities have achieved significant improvements.

The New York Times reported that space analysts attribute the new era of revitalization at NASA "to the influence of Dan Goldin . . . (who) in 1992 started a vigorous campaign to make the agency's products smaller, cheaper, faster, and better. He is still pushing that agenda hard." This approach has been applied successfully to NASA's Earth climate observation missions. Under his leadership, the Earth Science program has been refocused to fly more spacecraft and collect more measurements for less than half the cost of what had been planned in 1992.

Defense Business, which named Goldin among the world's top 40 most influential defence-industry leaders, said he "has tightened the workforce, introduced a stunning array of new missions, including information-gathering journeys to the Moon and Mars, and become the major player in the embryonic International Space Station." In naming him one of the 100 most influential men and women in government, the National Journal observed that "most space watchers say that Goldin is a brilliant visionary who brought NASA back from the brink of a black hole."

Nowhere has Goldin's vision been more evident than in his comprehensive strategy for space exploration. He initiated the Origins Program to understand how the Universe has evolved, to learn how life began on Earth and to see if life exists elsewhere. He led a rescue plan for the successful installation of a "contact lens" on the Hubble Space Telescope, leading to startling discoveries of the cosmos. Goldin challenged Origins planners to search for Earth-like planets within 100 light-years of our planet. He also laid the foundation to complete the first scientific census of the solar system and to send the first probe into interstellar space.

Goldin has been a vigorous proponent for increased exploration of Mars and has established a series of robotic missions that will visit the planet every two years for the next decade. These missions are being developed in one-third the time and at one-tenth the cost of previous Mars expeditions. Featuring new technologies such as planetary rovers, penetrators and sample returns, these missions are designed to determine if life and water may have existed on Mars. These expeditions will be instrumental in the development of human missions to Mars that Goldin believes could occur early in the next century.

To expand opportunities for public and educational participation in the adventure of space exploration and research, Goldin directed NASA's program managers to incorporate Internet access into mission outreach plans. This new policy attracted over three-quarters of a billion "hits" for the Mars Pathfinder mission, while CNN reported an unprecedented half million hits per minute during its Webcast of STS-95, the mission which included John Glenn's return to flight. In 1998, Yahoo Internet Life magazine selected the NASA site as one of the 12 best on the World Wide Web, and for two consecutive years has named it the "Best Astronomy Internet Site."

Goldin played a pivotal role in redesigning the International Space Station. Starting with the Space Shuttle program, he has established a goal to transfer day-to-day space operations to the private sector. This will enable the Agency to dedicate its resources to long-term, high-risk research and development and help establish a permanent human presence beyond low Earth orbit. To ensure a robust future for the aerospace industry and to build new commercial opportunities in space tourism, he challenged NASA's Aero-Space Technology program to make space travel 10,000 times safer and 100 times cheaper.

Worm Logo

On Friday 22 May 1992, Goldin announced that the "worm" logo would be replaced by the traditional NASA blue "meatball" logo. It had been replaced in 1975 by the NASA red "worm" logo. By 1997, Goldin had started a largely successful campaign within NASA to eradicate the "worm".[2] By 1998 the "worm" logo had entirely disappeared from use both in uniforms and in equipment.

Accomplishments

For nearly ten years, Dan Goldin's vision for the future has shaped NASA's continuing mission of discovery. During his time as NASA Administrator, there were many firsts, including: • 1992, the first African-American woman flew in space • 1992, the maiden voyage of the Space Shuttle Endeavour, named after the 18th-century sailing vessel captained by British explorer • 1994, the first Russian to fly on an American space shuttle • 1995, the first American to fly on a Russian space station • 1999, the first woman to command a space mission • 2001, the first landing of a spacecraft on the surface of an asteroid

Goldin has reshaped the Agency in all areas, from human space flight to science and technology research; from business operations to the way NASA reaches out to all people, whether American citizens or international partners. He infused NASA’s programs and operations with the “safety, first and foremost “ imperative. It has been his vision that has changed how NASA executes science missions.

The past decade had more than triple the number of flights attempted during the 1980s. Cutting the “design-build- launch” cycle time and building less costly spacecraft using new technologies has enabled NASA to undertake over 170 missions worth some $23 billion during his tenure. His acceptance of the potential for failure on lower-cost missions was critical to this accomplishment. Thus, while the number of mission failures increased in absolute terms, the eleven failures cost the taxpayers only $0.5 billion.

HUMAN SPACE FLIGHT One of the cornerstones of NASA's mission -- human space flight -- has crossed the threshold to permanent occupancy of space, using the remarkable capabilities of the Space Shuttle and its crew to assemble the International Space Station.

SCIENCE Solar System Goldin has led a renaissance of NASA's scientific research, ranging from the microscopic structures of our bodies to huge clusters of galaxies. He emphasized the need for NASA to focus on astrobiology to answer the primary question of whether life exists other than on Earth.

ASTRONOMY Goldin oversaw the extraordinary success of the Great Observatories. • The Hubble Space Telescope was successfully repaired in December 1993, and serviced twice since, increasing its capability each time, its discoveries rewriting the textbooks. • In 1999, Space Shuttle Columbia's STS-93 mission, commanded by Col. Eileen Collins (USAF), the first woman to command a space mission, successfully carried to orbit the Chandra X-Ray Observatory, the third of NASA's "Great Observatories," joining the Hubble Space Telescope and the Compton Gamma Ray Observatory. • A cosmic gamma-ray burst detected in 1998 released a hundred times more energy than previously theorized, making it the most powerful explosion since the creation of the universe in the Big Bang. • Astronomers racing the clock managed to take the first-ever-optical images of one of the most powerful explosions in the Universe—a gamma-ray burst—just as it was occurring on Jan. 23, 1999. Such bursts occur with no warning and typically last just for a few seconds.

EARTH By refocusing NASA's Earth science research, he has helped see our home planet in new ways. • NASA has successfully launched a dozen new Earth-observing satellites, tripling the world's capabilities for Earth Science research data. Goldin led the successful resolution of the technical problems plaguing the geosynchronous weather satellites, leading to a restoration of the system of spacecraft that provide coverage of the U.S. • Goldin reshaped the approach to designing and developing the spacecraft for the Earth Observing System. • As a result, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) garnered an understanding of the mechanics behind the formation of El Niño and La Niña events. • A NASA spectrometer detected an Antarctic ozone "hole" (what scientists call an "ozone depletion area") that is three times larger than the entire landmass of the United States, nearly 11 million square miles—the largest such area ever observed.

Under Goldin's leadership, this research program has expanded relations with the broader scientific community and grown to include over 900 world-class investigators ready to take full advantage of the unprecedented research opportunities on the International Space Station. The Biological and Physical Research Enterprise now includes 11 Nobel laureates as researchers and advisors; including a recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physics for 2001.

TECHNOLOGY Goldin has emphasized the importance of making revolutionary advances in aerospace technologies. He has refocussed NASA civil service’s engineers and technologists away from supporting routine operations to doing cutting edge research and technology.

BROADENING NASA'S REACH Goldin initiated programs of international cooperation that would have been unthinkable only a few years ago. • In 1992, Administrator Goldin and his Russian counterpart sign a history-making agreement for unprecedented cooperation in space between the two former adversaries. • Prepared the groundwork for the first American astronauts to live aboard the Russian Mir space station. • Americans have flown into space on Russian Soyuz space capsules and Russian cosmonauts fly on NASA's Space Shuttles. • The agreement laid the foundation for the addition of Russia to the 14 other nations engaged in the development, assembly and operation of the International Space Station.

AGENCY SAFETY INITIATIVE • Astrobiology -- the scientific study of the origin, distribution, and future of life in the universe. • Environmental Research Aircraft and Sensor Technology (ERAST) -- A unique aeronautical mission that will lead to a new family of remotely piloted vehicles (RPVs). • Discovery Program -- a series of smaller, focused planetary missions with fast turn-around times and low mission cost. • Mars Exploration- a series of orbiters and landers, including the Mars Pathfinder and Mars Global Surveyor, that will help us better understand the Red Planet. • New Millennium Program -- an ambitious plan to launch frequent, affordable missions with spacecraft boasting revolutionary new capabilities and technologies, such as the recently launched Deep Space 1. • Origins Program -- a series of space and ground-based observatories dedicated to research and analyze the origin of life in the universe. • Reusable Launch Vehicle Program -- a NASA and industry partners to design a new generation of launch vehicles expected to dramatically lower the costs and increase the reliability of the access to space. • Revitalized Earth Observing System -- A series of earth-observing satellites conducting long-term global observations of the Earth's land surface, atmosphere, oceans, and biosphere. • Shuttle-Mir -- the joint American and Russian mission helped NASA astronauts learn how to make long term space flight safer, conducted a hundred science experiments during seven tours aboard Mir by U.S. astronauts, and in 3 years provided more time in space than the entire 17 years of shuttle flights combined. • National Space Biomedical Research Institute • National Center for Microgravity Research • National Institute for Advanced Concepts • NASA ISO 9001 Certification -- Administrator Daniel S. Goldin challenged NASA in November 1996 to have all the agency's facilities certified by September 1999. "We are leaders in the world of science and technology. We must also be leaders in the world of quality. I am requiring that the Agency be third-party certified in our key processes, by an internationally recognized registrar, to ISO 9001. This commitment applies to all centers and headquarters," said Goldin. As of Sept. 17, 1999, all NASA centers, NASA Headquarters, the Jet Propulsion Laboratory and all of NASA's government-operated facilities have achieved ISO 9001 registration or been recommended for registration.

With this accomplishment, NASA became the world's first federal or state agency with multiple sites to have all its sites under ISO 9001 registration. NASA Headquarters is among the first corporate headquarters offices in the world to achieve its ISO 9001 registration. The ISO 9001 standard is an internationally accepted set of topics comprising the basic items needed to define and implement a "Quality Management System" for an organization. An impartial auditor evaluates the effectiveness and completeness of the quality management system before recommending registration.

Resignation

On November 17, 2001, President George W. Bush accepted Goldin's resignation as NASA administrator. He was succeeded by Daniel S. Mulville (acting 19 November - 21 December 2001) then by Sean O'Keefe (21 December 2001 - 11 February 2005).[3]

Honors

Goldin was elected a member of the National Academy of Engineering in 1998 for pioneering development of advanced space communications and electronics and for leadership in managing the U.S. space program.

In 2015, Goldin has selected as a Visionary by the Genius 100 Foundation in commemoration of the centennial of Albert Einstein's General Theory of Relativity. In 2017, the Foundation unveiled for the first time, a 3D publishing milestone by Israeli-British artist Ron Arad titled Genius: 100 Visions of the Future. The book features all 100 visions from the 100 Visionaries.

Asteroid 16529 Dangoldin is named in his honor.

Goldin is a Member of the National Academy of Engineering and International Academy of Astronautics. He is a Distinguished Fellow at the Council on Competitiveness, a Fellow of the American Institute for Aeronautics and Astronautics and a Fellow of the American Astronautical Society.

Quotes

• "My eyeball kept getting distorted more and more, so I became more and more nearsighted. At that time, if you had a detached retina due to the buildup of pressure on the eye you could go blind. In the Bronx, you played stickball and baseball and basketball in the schoolyard. I wasn't allowed to do that and I became different than my friends. I was self-conscious. I wanted to be like them but I was forced by health reasons to be different."
• "The only thing I wanted to work on in my life was space. I would do it anyway I could."
• "Never try and eat a baseball, it's never any good."
• "Go with imagination, ingenuity, and audacity. Explore, discover, change the world, and have fun while you're doing it."
• "Pure success results from mediocre goals."

External links

• NASA biography of Daniel Saul Goldin
• Goldin Stands by 'Faster, Better, Cheaper' Credo - by Alex Canizares at the Wayback Machine (archived July 23, 2008)
• Appearances on C-SPAN

 This article incorporates public domain material from websites or documents of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.