Trump picks Musk ally Jared Isaacman to head NASA

5/12/2024 5:58

        U.S. President-elect
        Donald Trump on Wednesday tapped Jared Isaacman to lead NASA,
        selecting a billionaire private astronaut and close associate of
        Elon Musk to oversee an agency closely linked to the SpaceX
        founder's businesses.
        
        Isaacman, CEO of payment processing company Shift4 Payments
        , leads Polaris, a program using SpaceX vehicles to
        conduct private astronaut missions in orbit.
        
        If confirmed, he would oversee the National Aeronautics and
        Space Administration's roughly $25 billion budget heavily
        focused on returning humans to the moon under its Artemis
        program, a multibillion dollar effort promoted by Trump during
        his first term that will rely heavily on SpaceX's Starship.
        
        "Jared will drive NASA's mission of discovery and
        inspiration, paving the way for groundbreaking achievements in
        Space science, technology, and exploration," Trump said in a
        post on his Truth Social platform.
        
        Isaacman would also command the space agency's
        aeronautics portfolio that has been funding green aviation
        concepts, as well as a sprawling space science unit that has
        faced layoffs and budget cuts under the administration of
        President Joe Biden.
        
        NASA's last two appointed administrators were former
        politicians. Trump's first NASA chief, former Oklahoma lawmaker
        Jim Bridenstine, launched the Artemis program and convinced
        Congress to increase the agency's budget to fund it. Biden
        appointed former Florida senator Bill Nelson to run NASA.