NASA's Ed Weiler to retire

Ed Weiler, who helped send missions to the Moon and Mars and oversaw the Hubble space telescope, is retiring from NASA, the space agency said Tuesday.

Weiler will retire effective Sept. 30, NASA said.

Weiler is currently associate administrator of NASA's Science Mission Directorate in Washington, directing research and science programs in Earth science, heliophysics, planetary science and astrophysics. Chuck Gay,deputy associate administrator, will become the acting associate administrator until a permanent replacement is announced.

"Ed leaves an enduring legacy of pride and success that forever will remain a part of NASA's science history," NASA Administrator Charles Bolden said. "His leadership helped inspire the public with each new scientific discovery, and enabled NASA to move forward with new capabilities to continue to explore our solar system and beyond."

Weiler was chief scientist for the Hubble Space Telescope from 1979 to 1998; associate administrator for the agency's Space Science Enterprise from 1998 to 2004; and director of NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md., from 2004 to 2008.

"The successes under Weiler's leadership include NASA's great observatory missions, unprecedented advances in Earth science and extensive exploration of Mars and other planets in our solar system," NASA said.

Weiler's most recent project: the Gravity Recovery and Interior Laboratory (GRAIL) mission that launched to map the Moon earlier this month.

His full biography is here.