Astronaut lines up new gig

May 22, 2009

I’ll say one thing about John Grunsfeld, the five-time shuttle astronaut who led the Hubble Space Telescope servicing work this week: There’s no dust gathering under his space boots.

He’s lined up a new job, confirming via space-to-ground email, an offer to join the faculty of the University of Colorado at Boulder.

“John Grunsfeld is one of the finest space scientists in the nation and one of the premier astronauts to have flown on NASA space shuttles,” John Stocke, head of the astrophysical and planetary sciences department which will be employing Grunsfeld, said in a statement.

Grunsfeld, who also served a stint as NASA’s chief scientist, will have an astronaut-buddy to hang out with: Joe Tanner last year became a senior lecturer at the school’s aerospace engineering sciences department.

Right now, there’s only one impediment keeping Grunsfeld from his new post. He’s still in orbit.   

(John Grunsfeld, spacewalking professor. Credit: NASA)