7 QUESTIONSmilitary. Could China beat the
U.S. back to the moon? Not if I have
anything to say about it, and not if Joe
Biden has anything to say about it.The International Space Station
has been in continuous operation
for more than 20 years and is ex-
pensive to maintain. How much
longer do you see it operating, and
will the U.S. get out of the space-
station business after that? It’s the
intent of Congress, in coordination
with NASA, to keep the space station
running until 2030. Then what we
are doing is encouraging industry to
get involved with commercial space
stations so that NASA can concen-
trate on exploring the heavens.That gets us to politics. One of the
things that’s kept us from return-
ing to the moon is a lack of conti-
nuity, with every new presiden-
tial administration tossing out
the past one’s plans for NASA and
implementing its own. In order for
a space program to be successful, it
has to be multi-administration. It’s
like building an aircraft carrier; that
takes about 12 years and spans many
administrations. So the space pro-
gram has to be the same way.You were in Congress for 30 years;
what do you miss least about it? The
inability to get along and therefore get
things done, because of excessive par-
tisanship and huge ideological rigid-
ity. That’s not the way it was when I
was a young Congressman. And that’s
not the way it was when I came into
the Senate—even after that disputed
[2000] election with 537 votes [in
Florida], Republicans and Democrats
got along, and they could still today
because they’re all wonderful people.
But they are listening to small cliques,
extreme views, which is eliminating
that very necessary middle ground.
—JEFFREY KLUGERNASA just completed a very good
year—most spectacularly with
the landing of the Perseverance
rover on Mars, the launch of the
James Webb Space Telescope and
the completed construction of the
new Space Launch System moon
rocket. To what do you attribute
the space agency’s banner 2021?
It’s attributable to the extraordinary
workforce. For the last nine years
in a row, NASA has been named
the best place to work in the
federal government. Employees
get mentoring from their elders
and management and through an
extensive internship program. Go
anywhere in the world, and next
to the New York Yankees logo, it’s
the NASA logo that is the most
recognized and appreciated. It’s
a way for the U.S. government to
project soft power and to work not
only with our natural allies like the
European Space Agency but our
onetime mortal enemy, Russia.That early space race with the
then Soviet Union was a bracing
thing for both countries, driving
technological innovation. Could
you envision a similar race with
China now? And could space be a
venue for Sino- American détente
as it was with the U.S. and Russia?
Yes to the fi rst question, and maybe
to the second. Competition is good.
It brings out the greatest effi ciencies
and the ultimate use of the talents
that we have. As to a détente with
China, that’s just a qualifi ed yes
because there is nothing thus far
to indicate that China is in any way
willing to be less secretive about
their space program and the military
aspects of their space program.That secretiveness extends to
China’s space budget, which
is not disclosed because their
space program is part of theirWill commercial
space activities
eliminate the
need for a
government
space program?
Bill Nelson The NASA administrator and former
Senator talks about getting to the moon, competition
with China, and America’s long-term space ambitions
In any cutting-edge
technology, government technology, government
needs to sow the seed needs to sow the seed
corn. What about the corn. What about the
miracle of COVID vaccines? miracle of COVID vaccines?
I’m glad there was U.S. I’m glad there was U.S.
investment in that.investment in that.PAUL HENNESSY—SOPA IMAGES/SIPA/REUTERS
.