PEMBROKE PARK, Fla. – Bill Nelson spoke to Local 10 News This Week In South Florida Sunday about NASA’s current and future ambitions.
The NASA administrator said the Boeing Starliner, designed to transport crew to the International Space Station, is set to come home in about a week. Astronauts Sunita “Suni” Williams and Barry “Butch” Wilmore are expected to land in New Mexico or Utah.
“When the parachutes deploy they are coming at about 20 to 30 feet per second,” Nelson said. “That big inflatable cushion that they are going to bounce on will substantially soften the blow as they hit the desert floor.”
Nelson also said the United States is in a race with China. He said NASA is counting on partnerships with commercial companies and the international community to get to the Moon’s South Pole before the Chinese.
“We think at the south pole there is water, and if there is water, there is hydrogen and oxygen — there is rocket fuel — and we just want to make sure, in the space race, that we get there first, for international, all of the international colleagues, to participate. Instead of China getting there and saying, ‘We are here! You stay out! Nobody else can use the South Pole.’”
NASA is focused on the Artemis program. Nelson said Artemis II will circle the moon in September 2025. One year later, he said, Artemis III will go into lunar orbit, and transfer the crew into a Space X lander.
“They will land and two astronauts, the first woman, and the next man will walk on the moon,” Nelson said.
Nelson described himself as a country lawyer from Melbourne Florida, who “happened to get a chance” to fly in space almost four decades ago and works with “a bunch of wizards.”
This Week In South Florida Anchor Glenna Milberg also interviewed Florida Rep. Tom Fabricio, former Sen. Jeff Brandes, former Miami-Dade Commissioner Joe Martinez, and Willy Allen, a Miami-based immigration attorney.
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