Jared Isaacman Senate Confirmation Hearing (9 April 2025)
Jared Isaacman says NASA should pursue human moon and Mars programs simultaneously - by Frederic Eger - Photo: Jared Issacman testified at the Senate Commerce Committee confirmation hearing for his nomination to be NASA administrator April 9. Credit: NASA webcast - Jared Isaacman, the White House's nominee to lead NASA, has expressed his commitment to both a human return to the moon and crewed missions to Mars. In a Senate Commerce Committee confirmation hearing, Isaacman argued that NASA can pursue both Artemis lunar exploration and human missions to Mars. He stated that NASA will prioritize sending American astronauts to Mars and along the way, they will inevitably have the capabilities to return to the moon.Isaacman did not elaborate on how a human Mars program could be run in parallel with Artemis but stated his commitment several times of returning humans to the moon before China's return, anticipated by 2030. He also committed to continuing the major elements of Artemis, including the Space Launch System, Orion spacecraft, and lunar Gateway.Isaacman stated his support for continuing to operate the International Space Station to its current retirement date of 2030 and ensuring there is a continuous U.S. human presence in low Earth orbit as NASA shifts to commercial space stations. This became a controversial issue in February when Elon Musk, chief executive of SpaceX, stated on social media that the ISS no longer had value and should be deorbited as soon as possible. Isaacman reiterated his support for continued ISS operations and said that he does not believe we should deorbit it now.Isaacman's nomination has had strong support in industry, with executives of two dozen space companies and venture funds endorsement him, citing his business experience. Executives at the 40th Space Symposium also expressed their support for Isaacman, citing his strong commercial acumen and passion for space.One of the people most excited to see Isaacman confirmed as NASA administrator is the agency's acting leader, Janet Petro. She recalled her surprise when she found out on Jan. 20 that the new Trump administration had selected her to lead the agency on an acting basis.Petro, the director of the Kennedy Space Center before named acting administrator, said she was probably the person "most looking forward to a positive result" from the confirmation process. She believes that having a confirmed administrator and receiving the budget from the White House will allow the agency to move forward even faster and with more specificity.
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