Billionaire Jared Isaacman, two-time space traveler and the next NASA administrator, Trump’s candidate, will appear at a nomination hearing Wednesday to the US Senate’s Science, Science and Transportation Committee.
The hearing is scheduled to open at 10am.
Isaac Man flew twice on a personally funded mission with SpaceX. Most recently, I flew last fall on my first commercial space walk, Polaris Dawn mission. His first space trip was the Inspiration 4 mission in 2021. He led a crew of four in his first all-private human spaceflight.
Trump officially appointed him on January 20th, replacing Bill Nelson, who led NASA in the Biden administration. Kennedy Space Center director Janet Petro stepped into the role of acting manager after Nelson resigned.
Below is a text of the remarks Isaacman prepared before he asked questions from committee members.
We would like to thank Chairman Cruz, Ranking Member Cantwell, and the outstanding members of the committee. I am pleased and grateful to lead the National Aeronautics and Space Administration as the candidate for President Donald Trump today before you.
I have lived in the American Dream, but I owed a great debt to this country. I am willing to serve President Trump in any capacity, but working with those who have expanded the boundaries of exploration and brought humanity closer to the planet will be a once-in-a-lifetime privilege.
Before I start, I would like to thank my family, my parents, Sandy & Don Isakuman, my wife Monica, and my two wonderful daughters, Mira and Livous.
I am aware, I am a newcomer and thought I would share a bit of my story with an understanding of future challenges and opportunities.
I am an entrepreneur and my journey began when I took a risk and left school at the age of 16 and built a company in my parents’ basement. Despite my unconventional start, I found success very early in my life, leading my company to thousands of thousands of dollars.
I am a pilot with a degree in aviation studies. Over the past 20 years, I have flew over 7,000 hours on jets and former military aircraft, setting world records and performing at air shows. Also, my passion for aviation led me to start another company. This time it’s the defense aerospace business. As a company, we ran the world’s largest civilian air force. Our job was to fly fighters as enemies, carry out enemy tactics, and train American fighters. We managed hundreds of millions of defense contracts and saved taxpayers in the process.
I’m also an astronaut. Alongside my talented team, I led two record-breaking missions into space. On my last mission, I ran far from Earth, testing new spacesuits while playing spaceships than any human had done since the Americans walked the moon. Along the way, my two crew members, Saragilis and Annamenon, became the women who traveled the farthest from Earth.
I am a science advocate. During these missions into space, my crew and I conducted approximately 50 science and research experiments. They also offered to publish the Chandra X-Ray Observatory and fund a mission to expand the life and capabilities of Hubble Space Telescope.
I’m back at home and caring about people and our collective future on our planet. My space carrier did not burden taxpayers. They were personally funded and aimed to inspire and support people around the world. One example is the over $250 million we have gathered to support St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, and the important work to ensure that your child will not die at the dawn of life. In addition to these efforts, I personally donated to hundreds of millions of charity.
I’m not a typical candidate for this position, so I share all of this. I was relatively apolitical. I am not a scientist and have never worked for NASA. I don’t think these are weaknesses. In fact, I think President Trump felt that those were his strengths. And, if confirmed, I bring all my experiences to the greatest adventure in human history: quest to discover the secrets of the universe.
In that memo, NASA is the world’s most skilled and respected space agency, but for all of NASA’s historic achievements, agents are not without challenges.
The president has been seeking a return to the moon and a path to Mars since 1989, spending well over 10 billion without intended consequences.
Most programs (new telescopes, rovers, X-planes, or the entire spacecraft) are beyond budget and behind schedule.
This is disappointing as people look up at the stars and wonder what’s up today, not decades away.
And we know that members of this committee are not lost in the fact that their geopolitical rivals are moving at an impressive speed. We will not be second in our national security, our pride and everything we stand to gain in space exploration.
If confirmed, if supported and guided by President Trump and Congressional members, we will reinvigorate our mission-first culture at NASA with the following objectives:
First, American astronauts lead the way towards the ultimate “highlands” of space.
As the President said, we will prioritize sending American astronauts to Mars. Along the way, there is inevitably the ability to return to the moon and determine the two scientific, economic and national security interests that maintain its presence on the moon. It will focus technology development efforts on the world’s largest engineering challenges, including practical applications of nuclear propulsion, and truly unleash the human ability to explore amongst the stars.
Second, we ignite a space economy that thrives in low Earth orbit.
Working with international partners and industries can unlock the true economic potential of the universe and bring meaningful benefits to the American people.
Third, Nasa is the multiplier of the power of science.
We will leverage NASA’s scientific talent and capabilities to help academic institutions and industries speed up discoveries that change the world. We launch more telescopes, more probes, more rovers and effort, and better understand our planets and the universe beyond.
If confirmed, I will work with and recruit with the most talented minds this country has to offer and concentrate on achieving our resources in the near impossible. We know that risks and groundbreaking opportunities ahead of us are worth taking, such as exploring the world beyond ours.
We do this and not only expand our knowledge and strengthen national security, but we also improve and encourage the next generation to improve all life on the planet and reach even more. This is why America needs NASA. The reason why the world needs NASA is because there is no investment that is more important than encouraging children to build a more exciting future. And the best way NASA can do is to provide our mission and guide a new golden age of science and discovery. We don’t fail.
thank you.
