NASA head Jim Bridenstine is leaving his post so Joe Biden can choose a person he "trusted" to fill the role, according to Aviation Week.
"The right question here is 'What's in the best interest of NASA as an agency, and what's in the best interest of America's exploration program?'" Bridenstine said.
"For that, what you need is somebody who has a close relationship with the president of the United States. You need somebody who is trusted by the administration.
"I think that I would not be the right person for that in a new administration.
"We've had a lot of success, but it's because of relationships.
"You have to have those relationships. Whoever the president is, they have to have somebody they know and trust and somebody the administration trusts.
"That person is not going to be me."
Bridenstine a former Republican congressman from Oklahoma who served from 2012 to 2018. As an appointee of President Donald Trump, he began working as the NASA administrator in 2018.
Bridenstine set a goal for NASA to return to the moon by the end of the decade, making it the first trip since the 1970s.
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