James Frederick Bridenstine, born June 15, 1975, is an American politician and aerospace executive who served as the 13th Administrator of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) from April 23, 2018, to January 20, 2021. He was nominated by President Donald Trump and confirmed by the U.S. Senate, becoming the first elected official to lead NASA. Bridenstine previously represented Oklahoma’s First Congressional District in the U.S. House of Representatives from 2013 to 2018, where he served on the Armed Services Committee and the Science, Space and Technology Committee. During his tenure at NASA, Bridenstine oversaw a workforce of approximately 70,000 and an annual budget of $23 billion. He led the agency through a period of renewed focus on human space exploration, most notably launching the Artemis program, which aims to return humans to the Moon and prepare for future missions to Mars. Under his leadership, NASA advanced the development of the Orion crew capsule and the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket, and initiated the construction of the Gateway lunar space station. Bridenstine also supported the agency’s aeronautics research, including the development of the X-59 quiet supersonic aircraft and the X-57 all-electric airplane, as well as the expansion of Earth-observing satellite fleets and the successful launch of the Mars rover Perseverance. Before his government service, Bridenstine was a naval aviator, flying combat missions in Iraq and Afghanistan and accumulating over 1,900 flight hours. He holds a triple major from Rice University in Economics, Business, and Psychology, and an MBA from Cornell University. Since leaving NASA, Bridenstine has remained active in the aerospace sector. He is currently the managing partner of The Artemis Group, a speaker, media contributor, and executive of Government Operations for United Launch Alliance, where he leads policy and stakeholder engagement efforts.