Posted on 03/20/2021 1:40:30 PM PDT by rarestia
President Biden plans to nominate former Florida Sen. Bill Nelson (D) to serve as administrator of NASA, the White House said Friday.
If confirmed, Nelson, who served in the Senate for 18 years, will helm NASA as it carries out its Artemis program by working with private companies to establish a presence on the moon with the ambitious goal of reaching Mars in the coming years.
Biden’s plans to nominate Nelson were first reported by The Verge and other news outlets on Thursday and confirmed by the White House on Friday.
Nelson, who is 78, served three terms representing Florida in the Senate but lost to current GOP Sen. Rick Scott in 2018. Nelson served alongside Biden when he represented Delaware in the upper chamber.
During his time in the Senate, Nelson served in leadership positions on the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee and was a vocal advocate for the U.S. space program during his government service. Nelson also served in the House of Representatives and in Florida’s state legislature before he was elected to the upper chamber.
Nelson himself flew on the space shuttle Columbia in 1986 and spent six days in orbit when he was in Congress and was serving as the chair of a House subcommittee overseeing space science and applications. Nelson’s district at the time included the Kennedy Space Center.
Nelson will need to be confirmed by the Senate in order to helm NASA. His relationships with lawmakers in the upper chamber that he formed as a senator are likely to help him move toward confirmation in the 50-50 Senate.
Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) issued a statement Friday morning strongly backing Nelson’s nomination.
“I cannot think of anyone better to lead NASA than Bill Nelson,” Rubio said.
“There has been no greater champion, not just for Florida's space industry, but for the space program as a whole than Bill. His nomination gives me confidence that the Biden Administration finally understands the importance of the Artemis program, and the necessity of winning the 21st century space race. I look forward to supporting Bill’s swift confirmation, and working with him in the years to come.”
Steve Jurczyk, who was NASA’s highest-ranking civil servant during the Trump administration, is currently serving as acting NASA administrator.
Or he’s malleable with a “Grimer Wormtongue” whispering in his ear.
NASA is soooooo 1961.
NASA is soooooo 1961.
So is Bill Nelson.
He is an even bigger moron than Biden is.
Nelson was a pioneer space tourist
In all seriousness, when I visited mission control near Houston back in 2016, it was amazing how antiquated it was compared to the call center of the company I work for.
NASA sent the Perseverance Rover to Mars to look for evidence of fossilized life. They found it right here on Earth.
Are you kidding???
That's all Nelson knows...politics.
I am 68, and I don’t want 68 year old folks running anything.
I was at my prime starting in my late 30s until my early 60s—after that it was obvious I was slowing down...
Young people are gonna have to fix this mess....and the old people need to get the f&^% out of the way.
If only I could get the government to give me a $114M vacation in space!
Thats why he was chosen. If confirmed, he'll be taking orders from someone else.
A search says: “Director of NSA has an annual salary of $180,000, plus housing, officer clubs, benefits, perquisites, lifetime pension, benefits, consultancies.”
Not bad for a know-nothing retired politician. The Party takes care of their puppets.
I can’t even imagine wanting to run a bureaucracy in my last years of life.
If you’re a bureaucrat, you should retire at 70, mandatory.
And put it in charge !
Yeah, I did not realize he was only on that flight because he was already a Congressman. Given how the recent articles about this appointment have been written, they sure made it seem like he was an astronaut first, then became a politician.
This, of course, makes the appointment even worse than it already was.
Hi.
Every pick Harris/Biden is making for thier cabinet and other high level positions makes we wonder if the U.S. is doomed.
5.56mm
A classic example of a richardhead... Once a richardhead, always a richardhead...
NASA sent the Perseverance Rover to Mars to look for evidence of fossilized life.
—
Which they found on one of the early missions, but the rover used a grinder on what looked like a fossilized Sea Anemone and that was that.
As long as NASA uses the 1960 Brookings Report as a guideline, no life will be found anywhere but here.
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