Author Topic: Nomination of Bill Nelson as NASA Administrator  (Read 76126 times)

Offline arachnitect

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Re: Nomination of Bill Nelson as NASA Administrator
« Reply #20 on: 03/19/2021 05:31 pm »
There's a lot of well-known candidates who have more administrative experience, more technical/scientific knowledge, and more impressive spaceflight resumes. Nelson has some real arrogance lobbying his old senate buddy for this position.

I'm mad about this one.

Offline Coastal Ron

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Re: Nomination of Bill Nelson as NASA Administrator
« Reply #21 on: 03/19/2021 05:35 pm »
Not everyone may agree with Bridenstine on each issue, but he may be the last bi-partisan in DC.

Bridenstine was far from being a bipartisan member of Congress when he was nominated to be NASA Administrator.

In comparison, regardless of how I feel about Nelson's qualifications (eh, not so much), the support for him from members of Congress is showing how much more bipartisan he was in Congress than Bridenstine was.

It's bipartisan because Nelson was a Senator like them, not a mere Representative like Bridenstine. A lot of Democratic Representatives endorsed Bridenstine at the time.

People that are currently politicians can act in a bipartsan way, such as supporting a nominee. And that is because they are current members of a political party, and so their actions can be described as "bipartisan" when they support someone that is associated with a party other than their own.

Jim Bridenstine is no longer a politician, and the last job he had was a non-political one as NASA Administrator (i.e. no "R" or "D" attached to his name like when he was a member of the House), so Bridenstine can't be "bipartisan" in offering his support of Nelson because Bridenstine is no longer a politician. And he has no say over the nomination anyways.

He can certainly lend his professional observations as a former NASA Administrator, since having previously been a NASA Administrator gives him insight into the job that few others have. That would not be a "bipartisan" observation though, but a professional one.

Just want to set that straight...
« Last Edit: 03/19/2021 07:43 pm by Coastal Ron »
If we don't continuously lower the cost to access space, how are we ever going to afford to expand humanity out into space?

Offline yg1968

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Re: Nomination of Bill Nelson as NASA Administrator
« Reply #22 on: 03/19/2021 05:51 pm »
Not everyone may agree with Bridenstine on each issue, but he may be the last bi-partisan in DC.

Bridenstine was far from being a bipartisan member of Congress when he was nominated to be NASA Administrator.

In comparison, regardless of how I feel about Nelson's qualifications (eh, not so much), the support for him from members of Congress is showing how much more bipartisan he was in Congress than Bridenstine was.

It's bipartisan because Nelson was a Senator like them, not a mere Representative like Bridenstine. A lot of Democratic Representatives endorsed Bridenstine at the time.

People that are currently politicians can act in a bipartsan way, such as supporting a nominee. And that is because they are current members of a political party, and so their actions can be described as "bipartisan" when they support someone that associated with a party other than their own.

Jim Bridenstine is no longer a politician, and the last job he had was a non-political one as NASA Administrator (i.e. no "R" or "D" attached to his name like when he was a member of the House), so Bridenstine can't be "bipartisan" in offering his support of Nelson because Bridenstine is no longer a politician. And he has no say over the nomination anyways.

He can certainly lend his professional observations as a former NASA Administrator, since having previously been a NASA Administrator gives him insight into the job that few others have. That would not be a "bipartisan" observation though, but a professional one.

Just want to set that straight...

I was talking about other Senators (e.g., Rubio and Cantwell) supporting Senator Nelson, not Bridenstine's endorsement.

As far as Bridenstine's endorsement is concerned, Bridenstine is just a classy guy. That's who he is. He doesn't hold a grudge against Nelson. He probably figures that what Nelson did at his confirmation hearing in 2017 is part of politics. I suspect that Nelson may even have told him that privately as they seemed to have patched things up after Bridenstine was confirmed. Bridenstine even appointed Nelson on a NAC committee.
« Last Edit: 03/19/2021 06:40 pm by yg1968 »

Offline Endeavour_01

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Re: Nomination of Bill Nelson as NASA Administrator
« Reply #23 on: 03/19/2021 06:26 pm »
Well...not the person I would have chosen given his previous policy positions. We'll see if his views have changed or moderated regarding commercial space and SLS/Orion. Hopefully as another poster pointed out his closeness with Biden will help NASA on budget requests and other issues. Looking forward to the confirmation hearing.

Quote
It would be nice if you'd stop flogging JB too.
Not supporting the sainthood of Bridenstine is not the same as flogging him...  ::)

Responding with a negative comment about JB whenever someone else says anything positive about him in any context sounds like flogging to me.   
I cheer for both NASA and commercial space. For SLS, Orion, Falcon 9, Falcon Heavy, Dragon, Starship/SH, Starliner, Cygnus and all the rest!
I was blessed to see the launch of Space Shuttle Endeavour on STS-99. The launch was beyond amazing. My 8-year old mind was blown. I remember the noise and seeing the exhaust pour out of the shuttle as it lifted off. I remember staring and watching it soar while it was visible in the clear blue sky. It was one of the greatest moments of my life and I will never forget it.

Offline yg1968

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Offline laszlo

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Re: Nomination of Bill Nelson as NASA Administrator
« Reply #25 on: 03/19/2021 06:55 pm »
Well...not the person I would have chosen given his previous policy positions. We'll see if his views have changed or moderated regarding commercial space and SLS/Orion. Hopefully as another poster pointed out his closeness with Biden will help NASA on budget requests and other issues. Looking forward to the confirmation hearing.

The policy now comes from Biden, Nelson's job is to carry it out. His previous policy positions are now irrelevant. What's really important now is his ability to work with the legislators.

Offline yg1968

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Re: Nomination of Bill Nelson as NASA Administrator
« Reply #26 on: 03/19/2021 07:07 pm »
Well...not the person I would have chosen given his previous policy positions. We'll see if his views have changed or moderated regarding commercial space and SLS/Orion. Hopefully as another poster pointed out his closeness with Biden will help NASA on budget requests and other issues. Looking forward to the confirmation hearing.

The policy now comes from Biden, Nelson's job is to carry it out. His previous policy positions are now irrelevant. What's really important now is his ability to work with the legislators.

I doubt that Biden has the time or inclination for that. Biden will trust his friend, Senator Nelson to run NASA.

Offline yg1968

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Re: Nomination of Bill Nelson as NASA Administrator
« Reply #27 on: 03/19/2021 07:18 pm »
My hope (but not really an expectation) is that Senator Nelson will learn from Jim Bridenstine that there is a difference between being a politician and an administrator. Promoting Florida or pleasing influential aerospace companies is no longer his job. His job is namely to continue advancing the Moon to Mars program. 
« Last Edit: 03/19/2021 07:21 pm by yg1968 »

Offline yg1968

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Re: Nomination of Bill Nelson as NASA Administrator
« Reply #28 on: 03/19/2021 07:19 pm »
https://twitter.com/SpcPlcyOnline/status/1372924894493696002

Not the most inspiring statement (a little too generic). I am surprised that he didn't even mention Artemis or the Moon to Mars program.
« Last Edit: 03/19/2021 07:23 pm by yg1968 »

Offline yg1968

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« Last Edit: 03/19/2021 09:37 pm by yg1968 »

Offline spacetraveler

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Re: Nomination of Bill Nelson as NASA Administrator
« Reply #30 on: 03/19/2021 08:21 pm »
I'm a bit surprised at the largely negative reaction to Nelson's nomination here. While I can agree that there were certainly candidates with better resumes when it comes to science and executive experience, I think Nelson is clearly qualified for the position. He obviously has had a deep interest in space and NASA in particular going back decades, and he knows how NASA operates having conducted Congressional oversight of NASA for many years. The primary job of the administrator is high level decision making around overall initiatives, not detailed scientific analyses, and I think Nelson's knowledge of NASA certainly qualifies him for the former.

Further, as someone else already noted, the relevance of the personal positions of the administrator are often overstated when it comes to NASA policy. The job of the administrator is to carry out the policy of the administration and implement the laws enacted by Congress which is really where the policies are set. His personal relationship with Biden means he's someone Biden can trust to carry out his space policy and that is also important. And now that commercial crew is operational and won't be going anywhere, I don't think the fact that Nelson preferred government space to commercial space a decade ago is really all that relevant to his potential effectiveness as administrator in this decade. I have no doubt that Nelson will continue to support commercial at this point.

Lastly, many people on this forum, myself included, were forced (or should have been) to eat a bit of crow over their initial skepticism of Bridenstine when he was nominated, but I think the overwhelming perception of his performance in the job means that we can no longer make the assumption that politicians are automatically less than an ideal choice for administrator, as I think Bridenstine's tenure clearly showed that was a false assumption.
« Last Edit: 03/19/2021 08:23 pm by spacetraveler »

Offline yg1968

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Re: Nomination of Bill Nelson as NASA Administrator
« Reply #31 on: 03/19/2021 08:35 pm »
My concerns with Senator Nelson are related to the following issues:

-Will he give priority to funding SLS over other important Artemis programs such as HLS and CLPS?

-Will he ensure that HLS has at least two providers?

-Will he try to reduce SLS' cost per flight?

-Will he force NASA to use SLS for missions that FH or other commercial alternatives are better suited for, such as the Europa Clipper mission?

I knew where Bridenstine stood on these issues. But I don't know where Nelson stands on these issues.
« Last Edit: 03/19/2021 08:40 pm by yg1968 »

Offline Rocket Science

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Re: Nomination of Bill Nelson as NASA Administrator
« Reply #32 on: 03/19/2021 08:50 pm »
Congrats Bill, don't screw the pooch...
"The laws of physics are unforgiving"
~Rob: Physics instructor, Aviator

Offline DanielW

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Re: Nomination of Bill Nelson as NASA Administrator
« Reply #33 on: 03/19/2021 09:05 pm »
I admit I had similar misgivings about Bridenstein that lasted a year into his tenure and as such I am willing to give Nelson a fair shake. I don't think them both coming from congress is a strong predictor of outcome. They can both move the political machine, but the part that made Bridenstein special is that he understood where the machine should be going and was able to work minor miracles to keep commercial crew on track while not alarming the SLS advocates.
« Last Edit: 03/19/2021 09:07 pm by DanielW »

Online abaddon

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Re: Nomination of Bill Nelson as NASA Administrator
« Reply #34 on: 03/19/2021 09:32 pm »
Well...not the person I would have chosen given his previous policy positions. We'll see if his views have changed or moderated regarding commercial space and SLS/Orion. Hopefully as another poster pointed out his closeness with Biden will help NASA on budget requests and other issues. Looking forward to the confirmation hearing.

Quote
It would be nice if you'd stop flogging JB too.
Not supporting the sainthood of Bridenstine is not the same as flogging him...  ::)

Responding with a negative comment about JB whenever someone else says anything positive about him in any context sounds like flogging to me.
I said something complimentary about Bridenstine and Coastal Ron liked my post.  Maybe we all can dial back the hyperbole & rhetoric a bit?

Offline MATTBLAK

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Re: Nomination of Bill Nelson as NASA Administrator
« Reply #35 on: 03/19/2021 09:39 pm »
Note to some people: the former NASA Administrator's surname is spelled *Bridenstine*
« Last Edit: 03/19/2021 09:41 pm by MATTBLAK »
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Offline yg1968

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Offline yg1968

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Offline yg1968

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Offline yg1968

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