arstechnica.com
Right, he waited until after his stint as NASA Administrator to get hired in aerospace...
spacenews.com
Nelson supported the choice of SpaceX for the Lunar lander contract. He has also been supportive of the Moon landing timeline. All current signs show he will follow in Bridenstine's footsteps and be as supportive as possible with SpaceX.
I rally hope so. The lunar project is not entirely logical, but 2023 is long enough to change track if SLS continues to fail. Maybe this time it will work, although the cost per launch is daunting even in the world of trillion dollar projects.
Right about that. Here's the only commercial contractor reference I could find in the transcript from Nelson "it’s been an amazing year for NASA. The agency has launched 10 astronauts from American rockets on American soil." Apparently Bill just forgot to say the "Thanks SpaceX!" part. Nelson was big on bold, but lacking substance. Already missing Bridenstine's ability to relate details. Hearing about SLS/Artemis with 8.8 million pounds of thrust and diversity on the moon is getting old. Bill Shatner was at the event too. Skimming the transcript I find him more inspiring than the new administrator.
www.rev.com
Right about that. Here's the only commercial contractor reference I could find in the transcript from Nelson "it’s been an amazing year for NASA. The agency has launched 10 astronauts from American rockets on American soil." Apparently Bill just forgot to say the "Thanks SpaceX!" part. Nelson was big on bold, but lacking substance. Already missing Bridenstine's ability to relate details. Hearing about SLS/Artemis with 8.8 million pounds of thrust and diversity on the moon is getting old. Bill Shatner was at the event too. Skimming the transcript I find him more inspiring than the new administrator.
State of NASA Address Speech Transcript 2021 | Rev Blog
NASA Administrator Bill Nelson delivered his first State of NASA address on June 2, 2021. He discussed the Artemis program and climate change. Read the transcript of the speech briefing here.
Kathy is still in charge of ISS, LEO operations, Commercial Space, and Human operations. It seems they just added a guy to supervise Old Space and cost plus programs. We'll see whether SpaceX loses out to SLS or anything else. So far, SpaceX has won the majority of contracts under the new administration. SpaceX really began to shine under Bridenstine. He was won over by SpaceX's successes but he did still maintain the cheerleading for SLS and Orion throughout his tenure. It seems that the new administration is continuing that as well. SpaceX is the one accomplishing things and winning contracts while SLS/Orion is getting funding and lip service. I don't see any of that changing until Starship and Super Heavy prove themselves. Which, realistically, was exactly what happened with the Falcon 9, Falcon Heavy, and Crew Operations.
spacenews.com
spacenews.com
The fears about Nelson seem to be unfounded. He does seem to be building on the "get things done as best as possible" approach that Bridenstine started. SpaceX created new options. Prior to 2016, SpaceX was a small fry and newcomer with big ambitions. They have achieved a whole lot since then that makes them the powerhouse launch company they are. Congress still controls NASA's purse strings but the huge positive media spotlight that SpaceX now carries and their incredible track record is shining a big light on the wasteful spending that Congress is forcing on NASA using the old school cost plus contractors. No wasteful program has been torn down just yet but signs like these shows there needs to be some "putting up or shutting up" on those programs real soon. Failure and delays compared to success after success in the media is hard to fight.
Nelson criticizes “plague” of cost-plus NASA contracts
NASA Administrator Bill Nelson offered a surprisingly strong endorsement of fixed-price contracts, calling standard cost-plus contracts a “plague” on NASA.
