Firing Line: Bill Nelson

 In this episode of Firing Line, Bill Nelson, the head of NASA, talked about future space programs, such as creating a base on the moon and going to Mars.

After it seemed that the NASA program came to an end ten years ago, Nelson wrote a bill while in Congress to put the space program on a new trajectory. This included working with commercial companies for resources as well as getting out of low Earth orbit to explore space. 

Although NASA's goals had been delayed for a few years, Nelson assured that this had happened because he wanted to make sure that everything is does right.

“Space is risky, and when you have human life in it, it's important that you do it right,” he said.

One of the goals was to go to Mars, but it would take 8-10 months for astronauts to reach Mars. Once they had done that, they would have to stay on the planet for a year. In order to get back to Earth, the planets would need to be realigned correctly. To do all of this, NASA astronauts would need to know how to stay on the Moon. 

“We’re going to learn habitats and protection and systems and new technology on the Moon that will enable us to go to Mars,” he said. He predicted that it would not be until late into the 2030s when NASA would be able to go to Mars.

Despite all of this excitement around going to Mars, China and Russia had started their programs for space travel. Nelson said that a new age for the Space Race was likely to start. He believed that it was vital for America to be competitive when it came to the future of space exploration.

“I don’t think that the United States wants to be second on anything,” he said. “I think that’s why you’re seeing the vigorous support of the Biden Administration with our space program.”