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Biden-era NASA Administrator Bill Nelson There is a RINO. No, not a derisive term used by President Donald Trump and the MAGA world for Republicans who disagree with them — Nelson is retired in name only.
And this still-busy-at-83, one-time astronaut has a lot to say.
For one, the former three-term senator from Florida is adamant that humans are going to Mars. “It’s not a matter of if, it’s just a matter of when,” he said. Independent In an exclusive interview at the nonprofit Washington West Film Festival in Reston, Virginia, on Sunday.
But he’s looking for a clear vision of that mission to Mars from the world’s richest man, Elon Musk, who provides the rockets that launch to the International Space Station, and who will eventually send astronauts to the Moon and Mars using his 403-foot-long SpaceX Starship — assuming it stops blowing up on test flights, the latest of which, had a good monday,
Musk calls the Moon a “distraction” On the way to the Red Planet. But, Nelson says, the owner of the Billionaire X social media platform has “contradicted himself.” “Because they’ve also said the opposite,” the former astronaut said.
Nelson says you can’t have Mars without a moon. Scientists need research from the first phase of the Artemis program to get us to Mars.
“But the fact that he has a contract to build this lunar lander – if he doesn’t have a lander he can’t land on Mars. And so, he’s going to try to develop that lander and what he learns on the lunar lander will help him land on Mars,” he said.
M&M’s presentation from Look Dine-In Cinemas after the 30th anniversary screening of Apollo 13 – Naturally — Nelson said he gets along very well with Musk and his billionaire rival and Blue Origin founder Jeff Bezos.
According to Nelson, the future of space exploration is becoming increasingly commercial. This is especially true when the International Space Station comes down in 2030 after being in space for 32 years.
It would be cheaper for NASA to rely on work funded by SpaceX, Blue Origin and other players, and NASA plans to lease space on a commercially built station in the future.
He explained, “You’re getting the benefit of a different way of doing things that often doesn’t take as much time if the government is dictating to the contractor what to do.”
Of course, with the good comes the bad. Astronomers have expressed concern about the creation of a dangerous situation in low-Earth orbit as SpaceX, AST Spacemobile and others launch more and larger satellites that Astronomers warn it could block stars and potential near-Earth threats.
Nelson says we will launch more ground-breaking telescopes that will address that problem and we can mitigate any risks.
However, at least one of those projects has been canceled under the Trump administration, which has cut NASA’s science operations in half, the Miami native said.
The revolutionary Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope Lost in budget cuts, human spaceflight was prioritized above astronomy, climate, and other sciences.
NASA has also felt the burden of recent layoffs, as have many in critical areas around the currently shuttered federal government. There are more cuts expected This week.
Nelson described the situation as “tragic”. Independent That we are working against ourselves.
“I can point out [to] Besides the CDC, there are two areas in the federal government that are really just too strong to cut. “One is NASA, the other is NIH,” the Army captain said. “I mean, we’re on a big roll in taking care of each other through our health. And they’re cutting that research. I mean, it’s just counterproductive.”
Nelson said he hopes Congress will restore some of what has been lost at NASA and pointed out that the world has faced extreme times before.
“We’ll get through this,” he said, as pop singer Meghan Trainor’s “No” blared over the theater’s speakers.
Looking and in spirits much younger than his 83 years, Nelson, a soon-to-be two-time author, remains an optimist. During her tenure as NASA Administrator, the Columbia Space Shuttle STS-61C payload specialist oversaw some awe-inspiring science.
James Webb Space Telescope launched In December 2021, the ability to view time before the beginning of the universe was granted. Nearly a year later, NASA successfully conducted the first test of the Orion spacecraft that will carry astronauts to lunar orbit aboard Boeing’s Space Launch System rocket.
Now, he believes NASA can do it again with Artemis Agency’s plan from Moon to MarsHowever, an advisory committee Recently warned of Starship delays And it appears that America is face to face with – or maybe already behind – China.
Like the Webb telescope, Artemis has been under construction for decades. It is a progression from the Apollo program, a hallmark of early NASA that first began in 1962 and ran until 1972.
Festival Screening apollo 13 The event served as a reminder of what can be accomplished at NASA, said Jason Slattery, the film festival’s director of sponsor relations. Primarily, it acts as a unifying force.
“And that’s what those astronauts demonstrated during all these Apollo missions over the years,” he said.
Nelson agreed, saying that humanity’s nature of discovery will always remain the same.
“We’re going to Mars,” Nelson said. “Until we evolve ourselves as a planet.”
Until then, you can find him at your local IHOP doing push-ups with a 24-year-old Army Ranger.
Nelson said he previously scolded Sen. Cory Booker of New Jersey, a former Stanford University senator, for not doing things properly in his office.
“I said, ‘Corey, you do 100 push-ups?’ Let’s get on the office rug and show me,'” he recalled. “So he gets down there and starts doing them like this… I said, ‘Corey, this is not a push-up. You have to go all the way down. This is a military push up.'”
“Anyway, yesterday I fell down – I couldn’t go past 40,” Nelson joked.