Bringing to an end months of guesswork about the prospective NASA chief, President Barack Obama has named the extremely popular former space shuttle commander - Maj-Gen. Charles Bolden - for the esteemed post. In addition, former NASA associate administrator Lori Garver has been named the Deputy of the US space agency. Both the appointments would be subject to Senate confirmation.

If confirmed by the Senate, the 62-year-old retired astronaut Bolden would be writing a history of sorts in NASA's half-century long account! Bolden would become the first black administrator of the space agency; and only the second astronaut to lead the agency - the first one being Vice-Adm Richard Truly, whose tenure spanned from
1989-1992.

With Bolden inheriting NASA at a time when the agency is facing considerable challenges amid budgetary constrictions, George Abbey, ex-chief of NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston, and Bolden's longtime friend, told the Associated Press: "NASA has been looking for a leader like this that they could have confidence in. He (Bolden) is a real leader."

Abbey said that Bolden would expectedly bring "more balance" to NASA. He elaborated saying that Bolden would work for an increase in spending on aeronautics and environment missions; collaborate with other nations in space; and emphasize education - an aspect that President Obama often makes a mention of during talks pertaining to space.