NASA Administrator Bill Nelson, who has led the agency into a new era of space exploration, is preparing to step down after four years at the helm. As his tenure comes to an end in January, Nelson ...

Former NASA administrator Bill Nelson peels a grapefruit on NASA's Columbia space shuttle during an Earth orbit as part of the STS 61-C mission which flew between Jan. 12 and Jan. 19, 1986.

He said he carried the water for NASA in his years in Congress, including 18 representing Florida in the Senate. “People will judge me on the basis of what we accomplished,” Nelson said.