Posted: Wed, Mar 7, 2012, 7:33 AM ET (1233 GMT)
A nonprofit organization established last year to handle research on the US portion of the International Space Station (ISS) has lost its first leader over a management dispute. Jeanne Becker resigned last week as executive director of the Center for the Advancement of Science in Space (CASIS), citing potential concerns that the involvement of one company, ProOrbis, could jeopardize the standing of CASIS as a nonprofit organization. CASIS acknowledged the resignation without specifically addressing her concerns, saying only that she left "as a result of ongoing disputes in relation to the pace and direction" of the organization. Jim Royston is the new interim director of the organization. NASA selected CASIS last year to manage research on the US elements of the station, which have been designated as a national laboratory by Congress, and awarded $15 million to the organization to perform that work.
