Head of NASA Says Kamala Harris Really Gets Space

Harris has the Bill Nelson stamp of approval.

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It looks like Vice President Kamala Harris is NASA-approved. Or at the very least, she's approved by the head NASA honcho.

At a Politico event this week, NASA Administrator Bill Nelson recalled his "lengthy talks" with the Vice President — officially the Democratic nominee for president for the 2024 election — about space, referring to Harris as a "space aficionado," in the context of Nelson discussing Harris' current role as chair of the National Space Council, a position that tasks her with overseeing NASA and advising the president on matters of US space policy and strategy.

"She's picked that up with gusto," Nelson said of Harris' space council chair takeover, according to SpaceNews.

We're not saying Nelson is coconut-pilled, per se. But like it does any other government agency, a presidential election will likely impact NASA in any number of ways, whether through policy, funding, personnel, or otherwise. And that in mind, the US' top space chief expressing clear admiration for Harris's impact in her role in the White House's space strategy feels significant, especially considering that SpaceX CEO Elon Musk — SpaceX being a close NASA partner and a major US space contractor — has endorsed former president Donald Trump for re-election in 2024.

Ch-Ch-Changes

Per Politico, Nelson also expressed enthusiasm for Arizona Senator Mark Kelly, a former Navy fighter pilot and NASA astronaut who famously smuggled a gorilla suit onto the International Space Station, who's reportedly in the running as a possible vice presential candidate for Harris' ticket.

"Yes, he would," Nelson told journalists when asked if Kelly would be a good VP, according to Politico. "I think Mark would be good at whatever."

"Mark Kelly is, I would say, one of the most impressive people that I know," added Colorado Senator John Hickenlooper, who also spoke at the Politico event. "He's close to a national hero, so he'd be a perfect, amazing pick."

It's unlikely that a Harris presidency would bring any significant change to the space policy of the current administration, which has generally been seen as a staunch ally of NASA. (However NASA is slated for massive cuts to its 2025 budget, per the Biden-signed Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2023 and a newly-proposed House spending bill.)

Still, a new commander-in-chief always means changes — and NASA, of course, has skin in the game.

"I think you should expect a continuation of a lot of policies should you have Harris win, but you still have to think of this as a transition," former VP of space systems at the Aerospace Industries Association Mike French told SpaceNews, "because at the end of the day, it's a new chief executive."

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