PREMIUM --

File picture. Commission investigating the spaceshuttle Columbia disaster. NASA Administrator Sean O'Keefe, the lone witness at the four-hour hearing, defended the investigation in Washington, DC on February 12, 2004. Photo by Olivier Douliery/ABACA.


Story : NASA Administrator Sean O'Keefe plans to resign as head of the U.S. space agency, an official familiar with the decision said December 12, 2004. O'Keefe, who presided over NASA during the 2003 shuttle Columbia disaster and its aftermath, was expected to leave his post before the next shuttle takes off next May or later, the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.