That’s the rumor. Jeff Foust has the story here and here, as does NASA Watch.

I find this a little surprising, given that he’s just gotten the budget go ahead for the new exploration initiative. I would have thought that he’d at least want to see the program off to a good start (though perhaps he thinks it already is).

What’s most surprising is where he’s going–to academia. There were rumors throughout his tenure at NASA that he was being groomed to replace Rumsfeld in a second term. Either those rumors weren’t true, or the fact that Rumsfeld is staying for now has thrown a wrench into them, or the administration is unhappy with him for some aspect of his job performance (Columbia? The Hubble fiasco?).

In that case, it’s sort of like the old “up or out” philosophy for military brass. Get passed over for your next scheduled promotion, and you might as well take your retirement.

Fortunately, with the new initiative and the budgets, it’s a more appealing job to many competent people than it’s been in the past. In previous vacancies, the running joke was that the administrator had to be someone smart enough to do the job, and dumb enough to take it. That may not be the case any more.

[Monday morning update]

A commenter wants to draft Pete Worden. Now Keith Cowing is reporting that this is, indeed, one of the names being discussed. I wonder who the “well-known millionaire” is. Dennis Tito? Paul Allen?

It would certainly be an interesting appointment, and reasonable payback for the shabby treatment (in my opinion) that he got from Don Rumsfeld’s Pentagon. If it were to happen (it seems unlikely to me), NASA would for the first time have as administrator a member of the alt.space movement.