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Senator Bill Nelson, D-Fla., Has generally been a strong advocate for NASA at committee hearings, such as the 2012 one.
Credit: NASA / Bill Ingalls
While the results of yesterday's mid-term elections follow one another, the Florida Democrat Senator, former president and former astronaut Bill Nelson, is lagging behind Republican challenger Rick Scott, currently the governor of the United States. ;State.
Nelson was a payload specialist in 1986 aboard the Space Shuttle Columbia, where he spent six days in orbit. He went into space as a member of the US House of Representatives, a position he held from 1979 to 1991. He ran for the position of senator in 2000 and won a career as a senator. three members in the Upper House. He is the senior member of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation, where he has been a staunch supporter of NASA.
According to reports in the Tampa Bay Times, the count of votes in Nelson's senatorial elections is close enough for the Florida Secretary of State to request a recount, even if such a procedure is not available. not mandatory. Scott claimed victory, although Nelson did not concede and the Associated Press did not officially call the race. [Presidential Visions for Space Exploration: From Ike to Trump]
The other races held yesterday also have links with the space. Texas Republican Senator Ted Cruz, who chaired the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation, defeated Democratic challenger Beto O. Rourke during a vote under scrutiny.
John Culberson, a Republican congressman representing the seventh district of Texas, lost his reelection campaign to Democrat Lizzie Fletcher. The district includes NASA's Johnson Space Center and Culberson strongly defended the Europa Clipper mission on Jupiter's icy moon, considered a powerful candidate in the quest for extraterrestrial life. Fletcher targeted this plea during his campaign.
The Columbia mission crew of Senator Bill Nelson's space shuttle, STS 61-C, flew in 1986. Nelson is in the middle of the top row.
Credit: NASA
Another Republican with space links, Dana Rohrabacher in the 48th district of California, has also likely lost his re-election campaign, although the race is not officially announced. Rohrabacher was one of the first proponents of commercial space exploration.
More and more changes will occur in House committees as Democrats have gained control of the majority in this body. The chairman of the House's Scientific Committee, Republican Lamar Smith of Texas, resigned instead of running for office, but he was infamous for denying the scientific evidence of climate change. The chair will now be headed by a Democrat, probably Eddie Bernice Johnson, who attended a registered nurse training before joining the Congress.
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who easily won the legislative elections in the 14th congressional district of New York, had an asteroid named in her honor after winning a science fair organized as part of a high school. The asteroid 23238 Ocasio-Cortez was named in 2007.
Email Meghan Bartels at [email protected] or follow her. @meghanbartels. follow us @Spacedotcom and Facebook. Original article on Space.com.
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