Nelson Bill (Bill Nelson)

Nelson Bill (Bill Nelson)

Biography

2021: Appointment as Head of NASA

At the end of April 2021, the US Senate unanimously approved Bill Nelson as the next head of NASA. The voting was broadcast on the website of the upper house of the legislature. Nelson is known for accusing Russia of hacking the Florida electoral system as a senator.

Current US President Joe Biden nominated 78-year-old Nelson for confirmation to the Senate in March. The Senate confirmed this nomination less than six weeks later, on April 29. Nelson also met with no objection to his appointment at the confirmation hearing on April 21 before the Committee on Trade. In early May, he will be sworn in, but the exact date is still unknown.

Like Biden, Nelson is a member of the US Democratic Party. He was elected to the Senate of Congress three times from his native state of Florida. Nelson was a member of the House of Representatives of Congress (in 1979-1991), and was also elected to the Senate in 2001-2019. In 1986, he made a space flight as part of the STS-61C mission as part of the Space Shuttle program, and during his work in the Senate and House of Representatives he headed the subcommittee on space. Since 2019, Nelson has been on the NASA advisory board. Thus, he became the second ever sitting member of Congress and the first member of the House of Representatives to visit space.

At the end of January, Jim Bridenstine, who left the post of head of NASA, recorded a video message and thanked his colleagues for working together and the successes achieved. Earlier, Brydenstein announced his intention to leave the post of head of NASA if Democrat Joe Biden wins the presidential election, explaining this decision by the fact that he will not be able to have a close relationship with Biden and enjoy the trust of the administration.^[1]

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