NASA has never known such an administrator. Throughout its history, the most famous space agency has been led by astronauts, scientists or politicians, but never by a businessman like Jared Isaacman.
This Wednesday, December 4, Donald Trump made an announcement about himself. Social networkSocial network Isaacman elected to be 15.e After NASA Administrator, Bill Nelson in 2025. This declaration was felt as a EarthquakeEarthquake. This is the first time that a private astronaut has taken over the reins of NASA. Jared Isaacman is known for making the first private spacewalk in history.
In Double D Elon Musk
Isaacman’s journey echoes this exactly.Elon MuskElon MuskDonald Trump’s first political running mate: a self-made billionaire, pilot, and space enthusiast. He strongly believes in the founder’s vision of Mars. SpaceXSpaceX.
Jared Isaacman started in 1999 by founding the payments company known today as Shitf4 Payments. These startups remind us how Elon Musk started making his fortune by starting PayPal.
A private pilot and astronaut
Its difference from Musk is in piloting. At the age of 20, Isaacman practiced aerobatics and in 2009 set a world record for flying around the world in a light jet. In 2012, he co-founded Draken International, a flight school for the United States Armed Forces. Today it is not uncommon to see it flying over the starship launch pad at Starbase, Texas.
Jared is best known for flying into space twice in the SpaceX Dragon capsule, on manned missions that he funded himself. He commands the Inspiration4 mission in 2021, where he spends two days in low orbit with three astronauts.
Last September, he commanded the Polaris Dawn mission, with two SpaceX engineers aboard. She then performed a brief spacesuit exit, known as the first EVA in history not performed by a professional astronaut.
Fan of SpaceX and friend of Musk
It is clear that Donald Trump’s election was strongly influenced by Elon Musk, whom he recruited into his administration to achieve tens of billions of dollars in savings at various US public institutions, including NASA. Jared Isaacman’s two space flights aboard SpaceX’s Dragon spacecraft. Two SpaceX engineers (Sarah Gillis and Anna Menon) were part of the crew. PolarisPolaris DawnDawnand were able to verify.integrityintegrity A company-made spacesuit for Eva.
A continuation of the Polaris program created by Isaac Man specifically involved a flight with a starship. He also proposed flying the Dragon to repair the Hubble Space Telescope, a mission he might well recommend to NASA.
Prefer to the moon
Donald Trump’s announcement was greeted with enthusiasm… in pro-Musk and pro-SpaceX circles. There was no response from NASA at the time of writing. For his part, Isaacman reacted to X (ex TwitterTwitter) citing space as having great potential in orbital machining. BiotechnologiesBiotechnologies Or even in it MiningMining extraterrestrial
” Americans will march on it. LoanLoan And on Mars and thus we will improve life on Earth. », explains Isaacman in his post on X. This is its main mission. It must first return astronauts to the moon before the end of Trump’s mandate, in 2029, or risk being overtaken by China.
Profound changes for NASA
The Trump administration is asking NASA to make many sacrifices to get to Mars as soon as possible, as Musk wants. To save money, NASA may have to put some programs on hold, especially the most expensive ones, such as the SLS ((Space Launch System)which may one day be replaced by a starship.
For budgetary reasons, Isaacman may well eliminate certain program redundancies, such as the use of a second lunar lander for the Artemis mission, requested from a consortium led by Blue Origin, or the Starliner from Boeing. Spaceship, which is not. Still not operational.
The danger for NASA is to male part of its programs through this preference for the Moon and Mars. Program Mars sample return.Mars sample return. No doubt there will be capture, but Isaacman is by no means a scientist. It may prioritize NASA’s support for technological innovation in research programs. ClimateClimate Or would NASA have the right to a chapter in astronomy? We remember that a foundation close to Donald Trump has prepared to purge all key employees.
Limitations
NASA chief Jared Isaacman is a choice that perfectly reflects Elon Musk’s vision. But he still has to manage to implement it, someone with no real experience in politics. However, it is the essence of the mission of the NASA administrator, who must negotiate the annual budget with Congress.
Between the pro-SpaceX vision, supported by Musk and Trump, and his desire to reduce government spending, Isaacman has had to negotiate with Congress on drastic budget cuts for certain programs, or even The waiver would be difficult to negotiate, which could lead to numerous job losses at NASA. , and perhaps closure of some centres. If Musk hopes to see the end of SLS, that’s not the Senate’s view.
Finally, it remains to be seen how NASA astronauts will react. Will they feel threatened by finding themselves under the leadership of another astronaut who did not go through their long and difficult selection and training process? Will they see any legitimacy in it that will guarantee their security when they have to make serious decisions? Isaacman has still flown twice as commander, and he may take on another astronaut as deputy director. In any case, NASA under the Musk-Isaac Mann label will profoundly change its nature, and SpaceX will emerge as a winner.
