NASA Faces Its Future at Jared Isaacman's Confirmation Hearing

"The uncertain future of science at the embattled space agency, meanwhile, took a back seat at the confirmation hearing for Jared Isaacman. NASA is at an inflection point, said Senator Ted Cruz of Texas, who is chairman of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, which held the hearing. The agency must prioritize if we're to beat China back to the moonand then to Mars."

"There is no question the overwhelming near-term priority is to return American astronauts to the moon, Isaacman said at the hearing, expressing support for both a proposed Lunar Gateway space station and the next four crewed missions planned for NASA's Artemis lunar landing program. That's despite calls in the Trump administration's proposed 2026 federal budget to cancel Gateway and to end NASA's Space Launch System (SLS), a rocket that would enable those missions."

"Renominated by Trump in November, Isaacman, age 42, has twice flown to space via the company SpaceX, including in a 2024 mission that saw him perform the first-ever commercial space walk. The billionaire entrepreneur's provisional Project Athena plan for NASA, leaked in November, called for smaller, more numerous science missions, a reorganization of the agency's research centers and a hard push for nuclear-electric rockets for future human voyages to Mars."

U.S. senators urged that NASA prioritize returning astronauts to the moon to beat China, making lunar return the near-term imperative. Jared Isaacman, renominated to lead NASA, has flown twice on SpaceX missions and led the first-ever commercial spacewalk in 2024. Isaacman expressed support for a Lunar Gateway and the next four crewed Artemis missions, while endorsing a reopened competition for the 2028 Artemis III landing. Project Athena proposed smaller, more numerous science missions, a reorganization of research centers, and an emphasis on nuclear-electric rockets for Mars missions. The proposed 2026 federal budget called for canceling Gateway and ending the costly SLS rocket, creating tension over priorities and the future of science at NASA.

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