NASA chief: Shuttle's end won't stop U.S. space work U.S. not done in space, Bolden declares

Shuttle's end won't end NASA's future, agency's top man pledges

Administrator Charles Bolden, a retired astronaut, said NASA naysayers “must be living on another planet.” Administrator Charles Bolden, a retired astronaut, said NASA naysayers “must be living on another planet.” Photo: Chip Somodevilla, Getty Photo: Chip Somodevilla, Getty Image 1 of / 3 Caption Close NASA chief: Shuttle's end won't stop U.S. space work 1 / 3 Back to Gallery

A group of former astronauts and other critics have blasted the agency and the Obama administration for ending the 30-year-old shuttle program, once the cornerstone of NASA. But NASA Administrator Charles Bolden told a National Press Club luncheon that the agency is merely starting a new chapter of space exploration — not abandoning human space flight.

"American leadership in space will continue for at least the next half-century because we've laid the foundation for success," said Bolden, a retired astronaut. "When I hear people say … the final shuttle flight marks the end of U.S. human space flight, you all must be living on another planet."

The new goals for the agency, he said, include putting a man on Mars, deploying a vehicle to an asteroid, returning to the moon and venturing farther into deep space.

"Do we want to keep repeating ourselves or do we want to look at the big horizon and keep challenging ourselves?" Bolden asked.

The two-time mission commander said near-space missions will be better handled by the private sector while the agency he said "defined" America focuses on innovations that would allow humans to permanently live and work in space.

Bolden grew teary-eyed and had to pause when his speech turned to those astronauts who lost their lives on the space shuttles Challenger and Columbia, including his own mentor, Ronald McNair.

The NASA administrator suggested that future space exploration will be safer because of the terrible lessons learned from those tragedies.

He also grew emotional when he talked about his friend Gabrielle Giffords, the Arizona congresswoman shot in the head on Jan. 8. Giffords' husband, space shuttle commander Mark Kelly, attended the speech and briefly joined Bolden at the podium to respond to rumors about his own political plans.

Amid media rumors that he might run to replace retiring Arizona Republican Sen. Jon Kyl or seek Giffords' seat if she stepped down, Kelly told the Press Club audience that he has no plans to run for public office — now.

"She's the politician in the family, I'm a space guy, and I see no reason to change that now," Kelly said.

For now, Kelly said his focus is on Giffords' recovery and his two high school-aged children.

"Many of you have been following the recovery of my wife, Gabby," Kelly said. "She is doing very well. The hopes and prayers of so many people are a tremendous source of strength to her."

lauren.french@chron.com