President Biden recently announced his pick for NASA administrator — former Florida Senator Bill Nelson — selecting another former congressman to follow Jim Bridenstine. He is known for being the second member of congress to travel to space, as he was a payload specialist on a Columbia Space Shuttle mission in January 1986. In 2018, when Nelson was a senator and ranking member of Committee on Commerce, Science, & Transportation, he spoke with Via Satellite about bipartisan leadership in space, investment in the private sector, and the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket. He also elaborated on his criticism that President Trump chose a politician to lead NASA. Nelson argued that a NASA administrator should be free of political baggage and must understand the complex technical issues involved in human spaceflight safety decisions.