Related MediaMar 22, 2021 09:31:15 IST
President Joe Biden has chosen a former Florida senator to fly on the spacecraft just before the Challenger crash to NASA. Biden announced Friday that he plans to nominate Bill Nelson as the space agency’s administrator. If approved by the Senate, Nelson will become NASA’s 14th administrator, replacing another former member of Congress, Jim Bridenstine, a Republican from Oklahoma. Nelson currently serves on the NASA Advisory Council. Nelson promised, if proven, “to help lead NASA into an exciting future. “The space agency is working to send astronauts back to the moon in this decade and is counting more than ever on private companies in the US and even other countries to get that work done – and others – carried out.
“His staff instill hope, ingenuity and capable spirit,” Nelson said in a statement. “The NASA team continues to accomplish what is impossible as we enter the cosmos. ”
Nelson, 78, grew up near Cape Canaveral and was a Democratic communicator when he launched aboard the Columbia space shuttle on January 12, 1986. His boss was Charles Bolden Jr., who was the later NASA administrator under President Barack Obama – at Persuading Nelson.
Just 10 days after their flight ended, Challenger was destroyed shortly after takeoff and all seven astronauts were killed.
Nelson, a law graduate and former captain of the U.S. Army Reserve, served six terms in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1979 to 1991. He was elected in 2000 to the Senate, where he served until he lost in 2018 to former Florida Gov. Rick Scott.
In 2017, Nelson criticized Bridenstine’s nomination by President Donald Trump, saying the NASA leader should not be political but very impartial.
Instead, Bridenstine offered a kind compliment on Friday and urged Nelson’s confirmation “without delay.”
In a statement, Bridenstine said Nelson has the political position to deal with both the White House and Congress, and the diplomatic skills to lead an international effort to send astronauts back to the moon and on to Mars. It also has the “impact to deliver strong budgets for NASA.”
Nelson is already supported by members of Congress.
“There was no greater hero, not only for the Florida space industry, but for the entire space program than Bill,” Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Florida, said in a statement. His announcement reassures me that Biden’s administration is finally realizing the importance of the Artemis (Coming to the Moon) program, and the necessity of winning the 21st century space race. ”
This is a critical time for NASA as momentum is accelerating in the commercial space program.
SpaceX is about to launch their third flight of astronauts to the International Space Station for NASA; Boeing is expected to start delivering crew delivery later this year. Meanwhile, space station supply companies are handled by private companies under contract to NASA for nearly a decade.
At the same time, NASA is working with private companies to launch experiments and equipment to the moon, as well as lunar astronauts that would take astronauts to the surface. Just Thursday, NASA successfully tested the main stage firing of its SLS lunar rocket – the Space Launch System.
The new moon program is named Artemis after Apollo’s twin sister, and he plans to introduce a woman on her first moon.
Some space observers were hoping to see the first woman at NASA’s command.
“It’s time for a female administrator. There were a lot of qualified candidates, ”space shuttle director and program manager Wayne Hale said earlier this month. He is also a member of the NASA Advisory Council.
One of the few women who has been NASA’s deputy administrator, Lori Garver, said in a tweet Thursday: “The good-ole-boy network is strong.” She is rooting for former space shuttle vice captain Pam Melroy.