John Logsdon, director of the Space Policy Institute at George Washington University, said O'Keefe's profile parallels that of former NASA administrator James Webb, who also came from the public management field and had a successful tenure during the Apollo era.
"The fact that O'Keefe is neither technical, or has no prior involvement in space, is almost irrelevant to the task in front of him. The biggest task is the financial and management reform of the human spaceflight program," Logsdon said.
The search for a replacement for Goldin had dragged on for months, and a number of candidates had removed their names from consideration.
"It has taken a long time to find a replacement for Dan Goldin because I think there's real doubt as to whether NASA will remain the world's premier space agency," Logsdon said. "The Bush White House has yet to show its commitment to a strong civilian space program, in either rhetorical or budget terms. It has put NASA basically on probation. In those conditions, who would want the job?"
Goldin, who praised O'Keefe yesterday as "a man of intelligence, energy and integrity," rejected the notion that NASA faces a serious crisis. "Every day, there's a crisis at NASA. There hasn't been one day when someone hasn't called me up and said, 'My God, is this the end of NASA?' "
Asked how he'd like his tenure remembered, he didn't hesitate:
"It was the Goldin Age of Space Exploration!"
Special correspondent William Harwood contributed to this report.
