Billionaire and space tourist Jared Isaacman could become head of NASA
Newly elected US President Donald Trump is actively putting "his people" in important government positions and plans to change the leadership of NASA.
Here's What We Know
The media reported that in the post of head of NASA Trump promotes billionaire Jared Isaacman, who actively lobbies the idea of space tourism and even became the first private person in the history of astronautics, who carried out a spacewalk. This happened in September 2024 as part of the Polaris Dawn mission, which Isaacman funded.
Jared Isaacman is the founder and CEO of payment platform Shift4. As part of his Polaris Programme initiative, he supported two separate missions to orbit by SpaceX.
The billionaire has repeatedly expressed concern about NASA's budget problems and possible staff cuts. In his view, much of the funding is being diverted to ineffective or unnecessary projects.
I don't understand how we can fund billions to launch a disposable mega rocket, fund two lunar landing modules so we don't upset anyone, but can't keep New Horizons staff at the proper level?
NASA will face several challenges during Donald Trump's presidential term, including decommissioning the International Space Station, the Artemis manned spaceflight programme and fierce competition with China, which has made great strides in its space programme in recent years.
Jared Isaacman's nomination will be confirmed in the US Senate.
Source: TechCrunch
