JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — President Joe Biden has announced that he will nominate former Florida Senator Bill Nelson as the next NASA Administrator.
Nelson, 76, has previously chaired the space subcommittee in the House of Representatives for six years and latter served on the Senate’s Space and Science Subcommittee.
A statement from the White House on Friday cites Nelson’s four decades working in public office.
“Most every piece of space and science law has had his imprint, including passing the landmark NASA bill of 2010 along with Senator Kay Bailey Hutchinson. That law set NASA on its present dual course of both government and commercial missions. In 1986 he flew on the 24th flight of the Space Shuttle. The mission on Columbia, orbited the earth 98 times during six days. Nelson conducted 12 medical experiments including the first American stress test in space and a cancer research experiment sponsored by university researchers. In the Senate he was known as the go-to senator for our nation’s space program.”
Nelson currently serves on the NASA Advisory Council.
If confirmed by the Senate, Nelson would succeed former President Donald Trump’s appointee Jim Bridenstine who took office in 2018. Steve Jurczyk stepped in as the acting NASA administrator on January 20. He was previously the associate administrator.
Nelson was first elected to U.S. Congress in 1986, and later became the first member of the House to go to space. Nelson was elected to the Senate in 2000 and served until he was defeated in the 2018 election by Republican Rick Scott.
Former co-worker Senator Marco Rubio expressed his support of Nelson’s nomination on Thurday, after initial reports of the nomination were released.
Rep. Don Beyer, the chair of the House Science Committee’s space subcommittee says that he is looking forward to working with Nelson.