Rocket Man

Bill Nelson once swapped Florida’s sand and swamps for the stars. But forever grounded in his love for the Sunshine State and the University of Florida, he’s counting on Gators to get us to Mars.

In the early 1960s — about the time “The Jetsons” debuted on national TV and Frank Sinatra sang “Fly Me to the Moon” — man’s fingertips were just beginning to caress the heavens. Millennia after ancient Mayan astronomers dotted their empire with observatories to track the constellations, centuries after the Catholic Church judged Galileo a heretic for believing Earth spun around the sun and a lifetime after Van Gogh peered out a window of the Saint-Paul asylum to paint “The Starry Night,” we humans were at long last on the doorstep of the cosmos.

It was under that glow of wonderment a future U.S. congressman, senator and NASA chief administrator came of age on UF’s campus. Bill Nelson couldn’t have known it then, but in the coming years he’d influence America’s space exploration and be among the few to travel on a rocket ship.

“[Earth] is so beautiful. It is so colorful. It is suspended in nothing. There’s home and yet it looks so fragile,” he once told a reporter, reflecting on his 1986 mission on the space shuttle Columbia.

Nelson is still the only sitting congressman to have personally seen our planet from that perspective. On that mission, Columbia orbited Earth 98 times in six days and Nelson conducted 12 experiments as a payload specialist. Now in his 80s — and with more than 50 years of public service on his resume — he’s the highest-ranking official at NASA, unanimously confirmed by the U.S. Senate in 2021.

“Known as the go-to senator for our nation’s space program … almost every piece of space and science law has had his imprint,” the White House said in a statement announcing Nelson’s nomination.

That experience is coming in handy. As NASA administrator, Nelson is tasked with overseeing the James Webb Space Telescope (successor to the Hubble), the Artemis program (successor to the space shuttle) and the Double Asteroid Redirection Test (successor to the nightmare scenario of a life-destroying asteroid hammering Earth). He’s also responsible for figuring out how to build colonies on the moon and to eventually send crews to Mars.

Said fellow Gator and U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio (BA ’93): “I cannot think of anyone better to lead NASA.”

From Earth to the Moon

In fall 1957 — when Nelson was a sophomore at Melbourne High, not far from what’s now Florida’s Space Coast — Sputnik I spent three weeks lurking in the clouds, peeping into our backyards and transmitting our secrets to its Soviet masters. It was the starting gun for the Space Race. Just like that, the Russians had sprinted to a head start that left the United States gasping.

America’s response: the Mercury Seven — astronauts Scott Carpenter, Gordon Cooper, John Glenn, Gus Grissom, Wally Schirra, Alan Shephard and Deke Slayton — and John Kennedy’s audacious proclamation that, “We choose to go to the moon … not because [it’s] easy, but because [it’s] hard.”

In those early days of the space program, students on campus could almost convince themselves that the ground beneath their feet rumbled whenever a big Saturn rocket blasted off from Cape Canaveral, 135 miles to the southeast. And with every blastoff … every setback … every mishap and triumph, Nelson, who left Gainesville in summer 1962 to finish his undergraduate studies at Yale, moved ever closer to his current job at NASA without even knowing that as his destination.

Elected to the U.S. Congress in 1978 to represent the district that included Cape Canaveral, it wasn’t long before Nelson was chairing the House’s science and space subcommittee. Later, as a senator, he continued pushing both Republican and Democratic presidents to support NASA. President Joe Biden saw an opportunity to tap into Nelson’s expertise and nominated him guardian of NASA’s next chapter.

When he left Congress, the self-proclaimed “Florida boy” donated his political papers and other items from his long career to the University of Florida. Digital copies of the collection will soon be available to the public and curators at UF’s Smathers Libraries are planning exhibits that will include the flight suit he wore on Columbia.

“I’m honored to have my papers and space collection deposited at the University of Florida, especially as a lifelong Gator,” Nelson said when he handed over the 800 boxes.

We caught up with Nelson this summer between rocket launches and White House meetings.

When you were an undergraduate at the University of Florida in the early 1960s, the space program (and our space race with the Soviets) was in its infancy. What stands out in your mind about that time?

I remember a defining moment of the space program. On May 25, 1961, President John F. Kennedy proposed before a special joint session of Congress the bold, new initiative that became known as Apollo: “I believe that this nation should commit itself to achieving the goal, before this decade is out, of landing a man on the moon and returning him safely to Earth.” I also remember Tip O’Neill, former speaker of the House of Representatives, told me about those early days of America’s space ventures, when everyone from the firemen at the Cape to the president of the United States felt personally responsible for our attempt to put a man in space. Then a young Boston congressman, O’Neill said he was at the White House during the countdown of America’s first manned spaceflight. He said he had never seen President Kennedy so nervous. The Soviets had already surprised us three weeks earlier by launching Yuri Gagarin for one orbit. Our entire nation was determined to catch up and pass the Russians.

When you were studying at UF, did you ever think you’d one day be an astronaut? During that time, was being involved in the space program even a flicker of ambition?

I never had my sights set on being an astronaut. But, while serving as freshman class president, my time at the university and the years following ignited my passion for public service. That public service would eventually lead to the opportunity for me to travel to space.

Speaking of being an astronaut, can you describe your experience on Columbia and what it meant/means to you?

Well, at the time, I was chairman of the subcommittee on science and space, which oversaw NASA, so it was important to me to have that experience. There are a lot of great memories, but one thing that is lasting is looking out the window of a spacecraft. You don’t see any borders, no religious division, no racial division, no political division, just our home. Because of the Earth looking so fragile, it also made me more of an environmentalist. I wanted to be a better steward of planet Earth.

Nelson’s patch on his Columbia mission

Your mission on Columbia was the last one prior to the Challenger accident. Do you ever stop to think that the same disaster could have happened to your ship?

Yes, I think about that often. Our crew had just returned to Earth on the 24th flight of the space shuttle. We had gone through four scrubs on the pad. During one of those scrubs, I remember it was extremely cold, in the 40s. I think about what could’ve happened if we went before we were ready.

How did/do the Challenger and 2003 Columbia accidents affect you personally and professionally?

My experience on Columbia helped guide me when Congress investigated the Challenger accident. As the head of NASA, it makes me a better advocate for a strong safety culture and the safety of our astronauts.

A number of astronauts have died during space missions. As NASA’s administrator, how do you balance those tragedies with our quest to explore space?

Space exploration is a risky business. At NASA, safety is our biggest priority. I often say, “we fly when we’re ready.” The tragedies of the past and the astronauts that lost their lives have mandated our safety culture today. Their sacrifice will not be forgotten or lost.

Growing up in Melbourne and representing the Space Coast, you are a homegrown hero. Why is that region so special to you?

I am a fifth-generation Floridian. When I was at Melbourne High, that was around the time of the very beginning of America’s Space Race. Curiously, my own roots had become entangled with the roots of the space pioneers when, in 1913, my parental grandparents had homesteaded on land that is now the Kennedy Space Center. Back then, under the Homestead Act, if you “squatted” on the land for four years, the government would deed the land to you. No one really wanted that mosquito and snake-infested land on north Merritt Island. My grandparents were brave enough to settle on it and build a house, swatting mosquitoes and fending off rattlesnakes. That property is now adjacent to the north end of the space shuttle runway at Kennedy.

You’ve been an outspoken champion of America’s space program for decades as a U.S. representative, senator and now NASA administrator. Why have you been such a strong proponent all these years?

Space is always a subject I’ve been excited and passionate about. When I was elected to Congress in 1978, I asked to join the House committee on science, space and technology. Florida Congressman Don Fuqua was chairman at the time and showed me the ropes of space policy.

As NASA administrator, what are your primary goals?

I help lead the NASA family in our efforts to improve our nation’s competitiveness in the future of aeronautics and space. These missions require significant funding. As we prepare to go back to the moon and then on to Mars, each advancement in our science and technology is a giant leap for our country and all humanity.

America and other nations are in a new era of space exploration. What excites you about the future of our space program?

We are living in the golden era of exploration: returning humanity to the moon, then on to Mars; science and medical advancements from research in space; climate missions that will tell us more about our changing planet; the future of aeronautics. This future is rooted in partnership — and NASA’s commercial and international partners are strong and growing stronger.

What, in your opinion, does NASA’s next chapter look like and will humans ever walk on Mars?

Through the Artemis campaign, NASA will return humans to the moon for the first time in over half a century. This time, we’re going to stay — to live, to work, to create, to invent. What we learn there will allow us to prepare to send humans to Mars. When we go to Mars, we’re going to travel the distance of nearly 800 moon trips, using science and technology that doesn’t exist yet. That’s just one of the many giant leaps NASA has in store.

The University of Florida recently launched its Space Institute to support space-related discoveries and exploration. As a UF alumnus, what does it mean to you for your alma mater to want to be part of NASA’s endeavors?

NASA and UF have had a space partnership since the early space days. The future of exploration we call the “Artemis generation.” They’re the generation that will take us to Mars and beyond. I’m thrilled that UF is expanding its capabilities to support space research. The university is a vital resource for NASA and for our country. NASA relies on our partners, and that includes academia. Together, we will expand humanity’s reach in the cosmos.

Last question, would you go on another space mission if given the opportunity?

It’s time for a new generation of astronauts — the Artemis generation.