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The Bills: What Does NASA's Leadership Shakeup Mean For Moon Plans?

Bill Gerstenmaier, then Deputy Manager of the International Space Station (ISS) Program, at the forward console during the STS-97 mission. He has been with the agency since 1977. Photo: NASA
Bill Gerstenmaier, then Deputy Manager of the International Space Station (ISS) Program, at the forward console during the STS-97 mission. He has been with the agency since 1977. Photo: NASA

Two senior NASA officials have been ousted from their positions.

NASA administrator Jim Bridenstine said associate administrator Bill Gerstenmaier and deputy associate administrator Bill Hill have been reassigned within the agency.

Bridenstine said the move is meant to help meet the challenge of landing humans on the moon by 2024, a deadline set by the Trump administration.

Will this streamline the effort or cloud the mission with uncertainty? To unpack the news of the shakeup, we’re joined by Tim Fernholz. He’s a senior reporter at Quartz and the author of "Rocket Billionaires: Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos and The New Space Race." 

Brendan Byrne is Central Florida Public Media's Assistant News Director, managing the day-to-day operations of the newsroom, editing daily news stories, and managing the organization's internship program. Byrne also hosts Central Florida Public Media's weekly radio show and podcast "Are We There Yet?" which explores human space exploration, and the weekly news roundup podcast "The Wrap."