Watch live today: Senate hearing for Bolden

Former astronaut and retired Marine Corps Maj. Gen. Charles Bolden goes before the U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation today for his confirmation hearing. The panel also will consider the nomination of space policy expert Lori Garver as Bolden's deputy.

You can watch the hearing live here today in The Flame Trench. The committee hearing is set for about 2 p.m., but will include more presidential nominees than just NASA's leadership so specific times are not nailed down.

Click here to watch in our NASA TV players.

What follows is an excerpt from an article in this morning's newspaper by Eun Kim in our Washington bureau:

Sen. Bill Nelson, who aggressively lobbied the White House for Bolden, flew with him on a 1986 space shuttle flight. The Florida Democrat heads the panel's science and space subcommittee.

Bolden joined NASA's astronaut corps in 1980. He left the agency in 1994, after flying on four shuttle missions and serving as assistant deputy administrator.

One possible hurdle to Bolden's full Senate approval could be his past ties to the space industry. He worked briefly as a lobbyist for rocket builder ATK and also served on the board of GenCorp, a NASA contractor.

The White House has said Bolden would need a "limited waiver" from new ethics rules designed to prevent conflicts of interest.

If approved, Bolden would take over a troubled space agency.

Obama has described NASA as suffering from "a sense of drift" and has ordered an independent review of the agency's human spaceflight program.

Bolden also would step in as the agency prepares to retire the space shuttle next year and its replacement program continues to run into scheduling and technical problems.NASA has been without a leader since Michael Griffin stepped down as administrator in January.

IMAGE NOTE: Charles Bolden is pictured (front row, second from right) during a promotional event at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex for its new Shuttle Launch Experience simulator ride. You might notice some other famous faces among astronauts on the ride that day. Image courtesy of NASA.