Posted: Thu, Jun 9, 2005, 8:26 AM ET (1226 GMT)
Craig Steidle, NASA's associate administrator for exploration, will resign from the space agency later this month after turning down a reassignment. Steidle told employees in a memo Wednesday that he will resign from the agency at the end of June after turning down a proposed reassignment to an unspecified position at a NASA field center. His resignation was first reported Tuesday evening by SpaceRef.com. Steidle joined NASA in early 2004, taking the position of associate administrator created to oversee NASA's implementation of the Vision for Space Exploration; he had previously served as a read admiral in the US Navy, overseeing the Joint Strike Fighter program. The resignation is seen as one of the first signs of a major shakeup in NASA leadership as new administrator Michael Griffin reorganizes the agency.
