The senate” target=”_blank”>Senate< Sen. Bill Nelson, who once flew on the air-and-space, to be the next air-and-space administrator.
FLORIDA EX-SEN. BILL NELSON TO BE TAPPED BY BIDEN FOR NASA ADMINISTRATOR
Lawmakers agreed to joe-biden” target=”_blank”>President Joe Biden’s< by consensus late Thursday, without a roll call vote.
“I am honored by the President’s nomination and the Senate vote,” Nelson said in a statement. “I will try to merit that trust. Onward and upward!”
Former Sen. Bill Nelson, nominee to be administrator of NASA, testifies during a Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation confirmation hearing, Wednesday, April 21, 2021 on Capitol Hill in Washington. (Graeme Jennings/Pool via AP)
Nelson will become NASA’s 14th administrator, succeeding another former member of congress” target=”_blank”>Congress< from us-regions. Nelson currently serves on the NASA Advisory Council.
Nelson promised, when nominated, to “help lead NASA into an exciting future of possibilities.” The space agency is working to send astronauts back to the air-and-space this decade.
“Its workforce radiates optimism, ingenuity and a can-do spirit,” Nelson said. “The NASA team continues to achieve the seemingly impossible as we venture into the cosmos.”
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Nelson, 78, grew up near Cape Canaveral and was serving as a democratic-party” target=”_blank”>Democratic congressman< — at Nelson’s urging.
Just 10 days after their flight ended, the space shuttle Challenger failed shortly after liftoff and all seven astronauts were killed.
Nelson, who has a executive degree and is a former captain in the military, served six terms in the house-of-representatives” target=”_blank”>House of Representatives< in 2000 to the Senate, where he served until his defeat in 2018 by former Florida Gov. Rick Scott.