Bill Nelson (born in 1942, September 29) is a politician and attorney currently sitting as the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) administrator. He was sworn in as NASA’s 14th administrator on May 3, 2021, and was given the obligation of carrying out the organization’s Biden-Harris administration objectives.
Nelson commanded the House of Representatives Space Subcommittee from 1972-1978 before being appointed as the Ranking Member of the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee. He became congress’s most ranking Space champion.
In 2010, Nelson co-sponsored groundbreaking NASA legislation with Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchinson. With this, it charted a new opportunity for NASA and established it on its present dual course of government and private missions. In addition, Nelson and Sen also collaborated in 2017 and co-authored the NASA Transition Authorization Act of 2017, which extended NASA’s commercial space activities (“honorable bill Nelson biography,” 2019). Nelson served in the Senate after becoming the second sitting member of the congress after Senator Jake Garn, where he served from 1986 to 1990. After leaving the Senate, he remained active in NASA, serving as the NASA Advisory Council under former Administrator Jim Bridenstine.
Nelson has worked in public service for decades. He first served as the legislature and later as the state treasurer. He sat in the Senate of the US three times representing Florida for 18 years (“NASA administrator bill Nelson,” 2021). During this time, his committee engaged in many government policy matters such as security, internstional policy, healthcare, trade sectors among others. In 1986, he participated in the Space Shuttles 24th flight, where they went around the planet ninety-eight times with less than a week in the Colombia mission. In addition, Nelson took part in twelve medical studies, including the initial American stress test in space and a cancer research study funded by university researchers.
Mr. Nelson was the leading force holding NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS), which was established during the Obama-era reorganization of the US space agency. He is serving under Jim Bridenstine and will take over after him once he retires. Mr. Brindstine has received significant recognition with his valiant efforts to enhance NASA programs such as the Artemis mission, which intends to send astronauts back to the moon later in 2024 before embarking on a voyage to Mars. Mr. Brindstine acknowledged Nelson as an outstanding choice for the NASA Administrator (Rincon, 2021). He stated noting he has the political power to work with various federal agencies, having served as a former Florida senator.
Moreover, Mr. Bridenstine acknowledged that Nelson posses diplomatic abilities that can spearhead an international coalition to the moon and then to Mars. Mr. Bridenstone posited that the Senate needed to sign in Nelson as soon as possible during this talk. Mr. Nelson failed to pass his final re-election competition, and his senate serving period ended as of 2019. On March 19, 2021, President Joe Biden announced that he intended to appoint Mr. Nelson as the NASA administrator, and the Senate unanimously confirmed on April 29, 2021. Mr. Nelson assumed office on May 3, 2021, after being sworn in by vice president Kamala Harris.
In a talk given by the NASA administrator Steve Jurczyk, he affirmed that Mr. Nelson had an established history of supporting the work of NASA, and he had worked so hard to help establish and advance the position of human exploration, science, aeronautics, and technology in America.
