Elon Musk takes his Mini-Me to NASA

Yesterday, President-elect Donald Trump Announced The nomination of Jared Isaacman, a 41-year-old entrepreneur, private astronaut and pilot, to head NASA came off as rather modest. Includes stock phrases – “I’m glad”; “pave the way”; “Demonstrates excellent leadership,” a category that organizations Used to raise middle managers. Read it and wonder if Trump’s heart was really in choosing this billionaire. Support history Democratic Candidates and Committees

Perhaps this was Elon Musk’s decision. Isaacman is a friend and a big fan of Musk. “In general, I try not to disturb that man.” Isaacman has saidWhen asked about their relationship “He’s constantly thinking about solving world problems.” In some ways, Isaacman is Musk’s Mini-Me. Both men made their fortunes from payment processing companies. Both used their wealth to pursue childhood dreams of spaceflight: Musk founded SpaceX; Isaacman got his start in the lower atmosphere by purchasing the world’s largest commercial fleet of former military aircraft. As of 2021, Isaacman has flown all of SpaceX’s missions, which have allowed him to view Earth from space. At the beginning of last year He again hired SpaceX to launch him into orbit to conduct the first private spacewalk.

If Isaacman is confirmed by the Senate and takes over at NASA, he will advance from being a small but visible buyer of SpaceX’s services. to the company’s largest customer For more than a decade, NASA has developed expensive, one-off rocket systems. which can carry humans to far-flung destinations beyond lower Earth orbit. SpaceX recently surpassed the agency with its Starship system, which is not only completely reusable but also fully reusable. But it’s also more usable in space. With Isaacman in charge at NASA, the agency’s lesser domestically produced rockets may be more likely to gain traction. was killedimmediately and forever This means that even more federal money may soon flow into SpaceX’s coffers.

Read: The scariest spacewalks in the past 50 years

Yesterday, after the nominations were announced. I reached out to John Grunsfeld, who served as NASA’s chief scientist during the George W. Bush administration and later became the agency’s lead science director under Barack Obama. Grunsfeld has been critical of Isaac. Past Man In 2022, Isaac Man begins lobbying for a personal mission. (assumed to be commander) to service the Hubble Space Telescope That would extend its life. Grunsfeld, a former astronaut who was the lead repair technician on NASA’s three previous Hubble servicing missions, is part of the group reviewing Isaacman’s proposal, as are others at agency found it Too risky and possibly premature.

Despite those concerns, Grunsfeld told me he is optimistic about the nomination: “Over the past 10 years, NASA science missions have been continually raided to pay dividends in the human spaceflight program. The fact that Isaacman is so interested in extending Hubble’s lifespan makes Grunsfeld a good sign for the agency’s future scientific missions, he said. He noted that Isaacman appears to have no experience in Managing an organization with a $25 billion budget and 18,000 employees, but when I point out that politicians with less management experience have been successful at running NASA in recent memory, Grunsfeld agrees. “The choice could have been a lot worse,” he said.

If Isaacman were to become government He’ll have to drive NASA hard if he wants his new boss to be happy. Trump has. fetish to express nationalism During his first tenure He pledged to send Americans back to the moon. The expected date of this victory is push back Many times, but there’s no doubt that Trump would love to see this happen while he’s still in office. Especially now that China is preparing for its own lunar mission.

If confirmed Isaacman will have to balance the new space race with NASA’s other priorities, including its climate science program. Trump has previously tried to deprioritize missions that would track ice melt and sea ​​level rise But he was mostly obstructed by Parliament. Isaacman’s views on climate change still hold up somewhat. mysteriousSo, we will have to wait to learn his inclinations. And whether those tendencies will matter much if he serves a rejecting president.

The most delicate task before Isaacman is to find out exactly who he answered this question to. Especially if Trump and Musk clash in the future. Isaacman has long wanted to be part of a large space exploration enterprise, but Trump is only slated to serve until 2029. Musk has no term limits. He will likely be the biggest launch operator for a long time after that. If anything, this selection only confirms Musk’s emergence as a big boss in space. Instead of any government official Isaacman would know he was entering.