Trump Taps Jared Isaacman, Billionaire and Private Astronaut, to Lead NASA

Who is Jared Isaacman, President-elect Trump’s choice to head NASA?

Who Lee Billings

President-elect Donald Trump has nominated billionaire businessman, aviator and private astronaut Jared Isaacman to lead NASA. The selection comes at a time when the $25 billion-a-year space agency is under intense pressure to return US astronauts to the moon. over budget and behind schedule Artemis program-while also balancing The end of the International Space Station and a wide, ambitious Portfolio of space sciences and aeronautics initiatives.

Isaacman’s nomination must be confirmed by the Senate next year.

“Jared will advance NASA’s mission of discovery and inspiration, paving the way for groundbreaking achievements in space science, technology and exploration,” Trump said. he wrote on its Truth Social platform. “Jared’s passion for space, astronaut experience, and dedication to pushing the boundaries of exploration, unlocking the mysteries of the universe, and advancing the new Space Economy make him the perfect fit to lead NASA into a bold new era.”

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Lori Garver, who served as deputy administrator of NASA under the Obama administration and helped start it constant revival US commercial spaceflight hails Isaacman’s selection as “a much-needed fresh perspective.”

“(Isaacman) is very knowledgeable and passionate about both aviation and space,” he says. “With no legacy in the aerospace industry, NASA’s transformative agenda is likely to be pursued. While the community may balk at inevitable disruptions, opportunities to accelerate progress require change. Human spaceflight programs that exceed cost overruns and schedule projections are deemed ‘acceptable.’ are for a long time.”

Isaacman, 41, is the founder and CEO of payments processing firm Shift4 Payments and the founder of defense firm Draken International. St. He is also a philanthropist who has raised or donated hundreds of millions of dollars to causes such as Jude Children’s Research Hospital. But he is better known in space circles for his leadership PolarisPrivate human orbital spaceflight program based on Elon Musk’s SpaceX rockets, spacecraft, and spacesuits.

Musk, who Trump has tapped along with businessman Vivek Ramaswamy to lead a new federal budget “Department of Government Efficiency” (DOGE), is a close associate of Isaacman and Shift4. extensive financial ties to SpaceX. It could be a connection between the two men and their companies deep consequences For NASA and potential restructuring space agency priorities and funding. NASA already relies heavily on SpaceX to transport crews to and from the ISS ordered the company to deorbit safely habitat in the 2030s. at SpaceX Starship megarocket in development It is a crucial component in NASA’s planned future Artemis missions to get astronauts off the lunar surface and onto the moon.

“I think people at NASA should be a little bit scared because of (Isaacman’s) private-sector flight background and Mr. Musk’s hidden specter,” says John Logsdon, professor emeritus and founding director of the Space Policy Institute at George Washington University. . “But any new administration and new administrators would take a hard look at their agency’s core programs. (Isaacman’s) selection is a reasonable choice and a positive decision for the nation’s space program — he clearly understands NASA’s primary focus, which is human spaceflight.” .

Isaacman has flown into space twice: once in 2021 private Inspiration 4 mission and again in September Polaris Dawn mission, which he established high altitude record For manned orbital spaceflight (surpassed only by the Apollo moon-bound astronauts of the 1960s and 1970s). On that last mission, Isaacman made a bold move the first commercial spacewalk. Both flights used SpaceX’s assets, namely its Falcon 9 rocket and Crew Dragon spacecraft. Two more Polaris missions have been announced (the second using similar hardware and the third planned to fly aboard SpaceX’s Starship vehicle), but their current status is unclear.

Isaacman, who financed the previous two flights and the rest of the Polaris program, has not disclosed how much he paid for SpaceX’s services. For a time, he worked with NASA and SpaceX in hopes of moving the second Polaris mission to the flagship Hubble Space Telescope, but the space agency. He opposed these plans at the beginning of the year The aging observatory is suffering from hardware failures, and its orbit is slowly decaying; Isaacman proposed the Dragon spacecraft rendezvous with Hubble to raise the telescope to a higher orbit and upgrade its instruments through spacewalks.

“This designation probably changes the context of those next two missions,” says Logsdon. “Being a NASA administrator is a full-time job, and taking time off to train and participate in orbital missions would, in my view, be a distraction.”

John Grunsfeld, a former astronaut and former NASA science chief who helped space agency officials review Isaacman’s Hubble proposal, says the observatory’s life could likely be extended by a cheaper, lower-risk robotic mission without the need for human visits. “Obviously, (Isaacman) is excited about space, which is great, but he also takes risks. And a NASA administrator must be a risk the manager“It’s a very different job.”

In a statement On Musk’s X social media platform (formerly Twitter), Isaacman expressed his readiness for the position. “With President Trump’s support, I can promise this: We will never again lose our ability to travel to the stars and we will not settle for second place,” he wrote. “We will encourage children, yours and mine, to rise and dream of what is possible. Americans will walk on the Moon and Mars and in doing so, we will improve our way of life here on Earth. It is the honor of a lifetime to serve in this role and to work alongside NASA’s extraordinary team to realize our shared dreams of exploration and discovery.”