At press time, the confirmation of Jared Isaacman as the new leader of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) was still pending approval from a Senate committee. Isaacman, who became a billionaire through his Shift4 Payments company, is a well-known civilian astronaut as well as a record-setting general aviation pilot. He is a close associate of SpaceX founder and presidential advisor Elon Musk.
At issue in the Senate hearings are Isaacman’s views on NASA plans to return to the moon, vs Musk’s stated intention to go to Mars. Isaacman told the committee members he sees the potential for concurrent programs. A New York Times article this afternoon quoted him saying, “I don’t think we need to make any tough trade here. I think we can be paralleling these efforts and doing the near impossible.”
The article noted that Isaacman has commanded private space flights Inspiration4 (2021) and Polaris Dawn (2024). Asked multiple times about his relationship with Musk, and specifically if Musk were present when President Trump offered the NASA position to him, Isaacman would not say if Musk was present, but said that he had not been in contact with Musk since the nomination.
