Charlie Bolden good choice for NASA

Charlie Bolden [right, credit NASA] is a good choice to head up NASA, an agency that needs to rethink where it's going and how it will get there.

I meet Charlie a few times when I lived in Houston and afterwards at shuttle launches. Impressive, gracious, and respected are the qualities that first come to mind about him.

Members of his shuttle crews greatly respected his leadership. Astronauts are a competitive lot, even without the traditional cockiness of some of the military jet fighter and test pilot group. Charlie had a reputation for melding a team and keeping a variety of strong personalities working together to carry out the mission.

Those skills are going to be sorely needed in tackling the challenges facing NASA.