NASA was able to quickly have a new leader after President Trump advanced the nomination of billionaire Jared Isaacman on Wednesday of the committee, winning a full Senate confirmation vote.
The Senate Commerce Committee, Science and Transportation Committee voted 19-9 to allow two space traveller nominations to move forward. Isaacman testified before the committee on April 9th, winning the support of Senator Ted Cruz of R-Texas and Senator Maria Cantwell, D-Washington.
Bipartisan support comes after Isaacman told the committee that Artemis’ mission to the moon remains a priority despite Trump and SpaceX founder Elon Musk pushing to focus on Mars.
The hearing could establish billionaire Isaac Man for a full Senate vote to lead NASA
“Isakuman is a successful entrepreneur with a bold, boundary-taking vision for space exploration. As he heard at his nomination hearing earlier this month (Isakuman said), “NASA was built to do the near-impossible.” I agree, but NASA’s space plans must remain real-world and align with our strategic interests,” Cruz said during the opening of the comments.
At the previous hearing, Cruz had requested a commitment from Isaac Man to support his current Artemis Moon mission plan.
“Existing laws direct NASA to “establish the existence of human beings in the Cislunar space or the moon.” Federal law explicitly refers to the moon as “a stepping stone to reach Mars.” In other words, our path to superiority in the universe begins with the Artemis Mission. ”
Cruz said Isaac Man gained his support as he would follow the law.
Cantwell also threw her support to Isaacman, who praised both his business and space experience.
“At this point, I think it’s an important requirement for this position at this point, as we’re committed to maintaining the Moon Mission,” she said. “It’s not clear where the Trump administration will ultimately win NASA’s budget, but there are concerns about some of the proposed cuts today, but Isaacman appears to be committed to Lander redundancy, the space launch system and current plans to return to the moon as quickly as possible.”
Isaacman also founded Lakeland-based Draken International, which makes fortune at Shift4, a credit card processing company, and trains fighter pilots. He funded two missions to the space to fly the SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft, which leads the Inspirational 4 flights in 2021 and last year’s Polaris Dawn Flight.
During the hearing, he did not call Musk a close friend, but testified that he was merely a client. He also said he had not had contact with the mask since he was officially appointed by Trump. He said he would support Artemis’ current plans for the moon. This said it will soon use expensive, delayed space launch system rockets for Artemis II flights next year.
However, launches beyond the Artemis III can be rethinked by pushing NASA to use cheaper commercial options such as SpaceX’s Starship and Blue Origin’s new Glenn Rockets. Both companies already have Lunar Landers, which are built into the Artemis Mission Plan.
The threat of China reaching the moon before America’s planned return played a lot for both party members during the confirmation hearing.
“I think this is a very big competition issue for the United States. It’s not just a goal, it’s the reality that we’ll wake up and realize that we’ll be late one day,” Cantwell said. “Today, I hope to continue to show leadership from the administration by supporting his nomination and making it clear that I support a robust NASA budget.”
Isaacman is likely to receive confirmation from the entire Senate, but the date for that vote has not yet been set.
If confirmed, he will be the 15th administrator to take over the role vacant by Bill Nelson, who left the position at the end of the Biden administration. Janet Petro has been the administrator who has been vacant as director of the Kennedy Space Center since Trump took office.
