‘It’s a stretch, it’s a challenge:’ Will NASA land on the moon in 2024? New NASA Administrator Bill Nelson discusses future of agency Updated: Tags: Former Sen. Bill Nelson, nominee to be administrator of NASA, speaks during a Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation confirmation hearing, Wednesday, April 21, 2021 on Capitol Hill in Washington. (Saul Loeb/Pool via AP) (POOL) ORLANDO, Fla. – NASA’s new administrator, former U.S. Senator Bill Nelson, is a only a few weeks into his new job but he’s already hit the ground running. Nelson has strong ties to space and the Space Coast. In 1913, his grandparents earned a piece of land under the Homestead Act that later became the north end of the Shuttle Landing Facility. In 1986, he flew to space on board Space Shuttle Columbia.