posted 05-18-2024 01:02 PM               

From NASA Administrator Bill Nelson (via X):

The space community has lost someone special. Jeff Bingham served NASA again and again, in role after role, from supporting the International Space Station to helping drive NASA policy. His work and influence live on. My thoughts are with Jeff's loved ones.

From 1974-1990, Mr. Bingham served as Chief of Staff for Senator Jake Garn (R-UT), and throughout that service was heavily involved in the Senator's space-related activity as Ranking Member and Chairman of the Senate VA-HUD-IA Subcommittee on Appropriations, which had responsibility for NASA appropriations.

From September of 1990 to April 1991, Mr. Bingham was a NASA consultant and participant in the Synthesis Group, chaired by former astronaut General Tom Stafford, charged with developing alternative architectures for missions to the Moon and Mars under the Space Exploration Initiative.

From May 1991 to July 1994, Mr. Bingham was a Senior Policy Analyst for Science Applications International Corporation, and supported the Johnson Space Center strategic planning and exploration policy activities.

In 1994, at the request of NASA, Mr. Bingham became the Legislative Coordinator for the International Space Station Program, serving in that role until September 1996. From April 1996 to April 1999, he managed the Space Station Information Center (aka "War Room"), relocating to NASA Headquarters in September 1996 to undertake that activity full-time.

In December 2000, Mr. Bingham supported the Bush-Cheney NASA Transition Team, and in January 2001 was appointed by the White House Personnel Office as Special Assistant to NASA Chief of Staff Courtney A. Stadd.

From May 2001 to May 2002, Mr. Bingham served as Acting Associate Administrator, then as Associate Administrator for Legislative Affairs, at NASA Headquarters and then as Special Assistant to the Administrator for Policy and History, leaving NASA in April 2004.

In April, 2005, Mr. Bingham accepted the appointment as Staff Director for the Subcommittee on Science and Space of the U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation. During his tenure at the Commerce Committee, he was heavily involved as the lead Republican staff in the conception, drafting and enactment of three sequential NASA Authorization Acts, in 2005, 2008 and 2010.

Mr. Bingham was a member of the Executive Committee of the Space Studies Board of the National Academies of Science, Engineering and Medicine. He was also Vice Chairman of the Virginia Commercial Space Flight Authority, which operates the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport in Wallops Island, Virginia. He was Vice President for Policy of the American Astronautical Society, and was a Member of the Advisory Boards of the Humans to Mars, LLC, and the Coalition for Deep Space Exploration. He was also owner of the consulting firm Focused Strategies and Solutions, LLC.