12p 1/9 Update: Griffin awaits word on job status

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CBS NEWS Coverage of Breaking Space News
Posted: 11:57 AM, 1/9/09

By William Harwood
CBS News Space Consultant

Changes and additions:

12/30/08 (01:25 PM): NASA releases post-Columbia crew survival study
12/30/08 (05:30 PM): NASA teleconference discusses crew survival study
01/09/09 (11:57 AM): Griffin awaits word from Obama administration

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11:57 AM, 1/9/09, Update: Griffin awaits word from Obama administration

NASA Administrator Mike Griffin, answering questions from Johnson Space Center workers today, said he has not yet heard from the incoming Obama administration about whether - or when - he will be replaced as the agency's leader. But he made it clear he does not expect to be asked to stay on and barring words to the contrary from the new administration, Griffin will be out of a job Jan. 20.

"I think we all are aware we have a political transition almost upon us, and the odds are in a couple of weeks I won't be in this position," Griffin told a packed auditorium. "We don't know yet, and I certainly don't want to make presumptions about what the president-elect will do. But those are the realities."

Asked what insights he could share from encounters with Obama's transition team as to possible priorities and general focus, Griffin said there was not much to tell.

"If I knew, it would probably be inappropriate for me to share, but I can't because I don't know," he said. "I had a couple of very brief sessions with the NASA transition team and that was it. There just wasn't any discussion of goals and priorities. So I really, honestly don't  know any more than you know."

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Quick-Launch Web Links:

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NASA ISS Expeditions Page:
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NASA Station Web: http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/station/index.html
Spaceflight Now: http://spaceflightnow.com/index.html
GoogleSatTrack: http://www.lizard-tail.com/isana/tracking/

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