Bill Nelson joins host Dave Schlom for a special conversation about his life in public service at NASA. Nelson served representing the people of his home state of Florida for 30 years, first in the House of Representatives and then the Senate.
He was the second congressperson to fly into space, serving as a Payload Specialist aboard the space shuttle Columbia in January of 1986, just days before the launch of the ill-fated Challenger mission that killed all seven astronauts, including the woman who was to be the first teacher in space, Christa McAuliffe.
Senator Nelson's grandparents actually homesteaded on land that would become adjacent to the space shuttle's landing strip at the Kennedy Space Center.
Bill shares his love of history and space exploration and discusses NASA's past, present, and future in this very special episode.
