posted 05-31-2025 03:07 PM               

The full statement from the White House:

The Administrator of NASA will help lead humanity into space and execute President Trump's bold mission of planting the American flag on the planet Mars. It's essential that the next leader of NASA is in complete alignment with President Trump's America First agenda and a replacement will be announced directly by President Trump soon.

posted 05-31-2025 07:33 PM               

Mr. Trump told associates he had learned from allies that Mr. Isaacman had donated to Democrats, including Senator Mark Kelly of Arizona and former Senator Bob Casey of Pennsylvania, as well as the California Democratic Party, during the past two campaign cycles, the people with knowledge of the deliberations said.

Mr. Trump told advisers he was surprised he had not been told about those donations previously, two people briefed on the matter said, neither of whom was authorized to discuss the matter. Sergio Gor, the director of the Presidential Personnel Office who has clashed with Mr. Musk over nominees, supported Mr. Trump's moving to withdraw the nomination, two other people briefed on the matter said.

posted 05-31-2025 09:21 PM               

I am incredibly grateful to President Trump, the Senate and all those who supported me throughout this journey. The past six months have been enlightening and, honestly, a bit thrilling. I have gained a much deeper appreciation for the complexities of government and the weight our political leaders carry.

It may not always be obvious through the discourse and turbulence, but there are many competent, dedicated people who love this country and care deeply about the mission. That was on full display during my hearing, where leaders on both sides of the aisle made clear they’re willing to fight for the world’s most accomplished space agency.

The President, NASA and the American people deserve the very best — an Administrator ready to reorganize, rebuild and rally the best and brightest minds to deliver the world-changing headlines NASA was built to create.

I have not flown my last mission — whatever form that may ultimately take — but I remain incredibly optimistic that humanity's greatest spacefaring days lie ahead. I'll always be grateful for this opportunity and cheering on our President and NASA as they lead us on the greatest adventure in human history.

posted 06-01-2025 06:06 AM               

Honesty about motivation is lacking somewhat. Trump has zero interest in Mars or anything remotely scientific or technical. Observe what's happening to science generally in the USA under his dis-order. It's about ego.

He just wants his name associated with Mars as Kennedy's was with the Moon.

posted 06-02-2025 09:24 AM               

After a thorough review of prior associations, I am hereby withdrawing the nomination of Jared Isaacman to head NASA. I will soon announce a new Nominee who will be Mission aligned, and put America First in Space. Thank you for your attention to this matter!

The source told CNN that Musk’s exit left room for a faction of people in Trump's inner circle, particularly Sergio Gor, the director of the White House Presidential Personnel Office and longtime MAGA supporter, to advocate for installing a different nominee.

"This was really that Elon rubbed a couple people wrong," the source told CNN. "I wouldn't be surprised if other Elon-connected people are going to find their way out at some point."

posted 06-02-2025 08:28 PM               

quote:

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Originally posted by star61:
...all of us space cadets desperately want humanity to get to Mars and beyond

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posted 06-03-2025 06:25 AM               

Russia/USSR, ESA, China and India have all sent missions to Mars through their national space organisations. I'm sure the intent is there to at least be considering crewed missions at some point in the future.

There may have been internal friction between the Moon and Mars factions, but NASA was still essentially the only game in town. Various ideas and possible architectures have been posited by NASA since von Braun's time.

posted 06-03-2025 07:14 AM               

NASA has sent probes to all the planets. It's not an intent of anything.

posted 06-03-2025 03:25 PM               

quote:

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Originally posted by Robert Pearlman:
Going to the moon was never seriously backed by the U.S. government until it was.

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posted 06-05-2025 08:25 AM               

Appearing on an episode of the All-In Podcast published June 4, Isaacman said he was informed by the White House May 30 that President Trump was withdrawing his nomination to lead the space agency, a move that became public the next day. The podcast appearance provided his first public comments about the withdrawn nomination other than social media posts. ...

"I don't need to play dumb on this," he said. "I don't think that the timing was much of a coincidence, that there were other changes going on the same day." Musk marked his formal end as a "special government employee" serving as de facto head of the White House's Department of Government Efficiency on May 30.

The relationship between Trump and Musk had reportedly become strained before Musk's formal departure, and since then Musk has been critical of a budget resolution bill backed by President Trump that is currently being considered by the Senate. Musk argues the bill would result in a major increase in the national debt.

"There were some people that had some axes to grind, I guess, and I was a good, visible target," Isaacman added.

posted 06-09-2025 05:52 PM               

Spent the last few months assembling a pretty extensive plan — shaped by insights from a lot of smart, passionate people. No shortage of input — everyone loves NASA and wants to help. Maybe I will write an op-ed someday — but I didn’t love being inundated with plans from people who thought they were uniquely NASA’s savior — and I have little interest in doing the same.

In short, I would have deleted the bureaucracy that impedes progress and robs resources from the mission (this is not unique to NASA it's a government problem). I would flatten the hierarchy, rebuild the culture — centered on ownership, urgency, mission-focus alongside a risk recalibration. Then concentrate resources on the big needle movers NASA was meant to achieve.

And if it came down to poor outcomes like failing to launch a near-complete Roman, shutting down Hubble or Chandra prematurely or flying reduced crew sizes to the ISS just to save money (yes, people are actually considering 3 astronauts instead of 4) ... then yes, I would have funded it myself to protect the science.

That is not how it should work — and I honestly don't think it would have come to that. With the right political support and smart management — logic should prevail.

posted 06-26-2025 09:41 AM               

Petro said she would remain the acting head of NASA for the foreseeable future. "I want you to know that I will continue to lead NASA until a new leader is installed, and I take that responsibility to heart."

That could take until next year. "I think the best guess would tell you that it's hard to imagine it happening before the next six months, and could perhaps go longer than that into the eight- or nine-month range," Brian Hughes, NASA chief of staff, said at the town hall.

He added that it could go faster if the president nominates someone "and the administration asks for bumping ahead of the Senate process to make it faster."

When Trump announced he was pulling Isaacman's nomination, he said he would soon announce a new nominee "who will be Mission aligned." Nearly a month later, the White House has not announced a NASA administrator nominee.

posted 10-10-2025 09:06 AM               

Trump has met with Isaacman, a SpaceX astronaut and executive chairman of Shift4 Payments Inc. in person more than once in recent weeks to discuss his vision for leading the space agency, the person said, speaking on condition of anonymity because the matter is confidential.

The person cautioned that Trump hasn’t made a final decision and could go in a different direction. The role of NASA administrator also requires confirmation by the US Senate.

A White House official said no decisions have been made on the NASA Administrator position. When a decision has been made, it will be announced by Trump directly, the person said.

Isaacman did not provide a comment. NASA representatives didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment. The Transportation Department referred questions to NASA.

posted 11-04-2025 06:25 PM               

Sean Duffy has done an incredible job as Interim Administrator of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). This evening, I am pleased to nominate Jared Isaacman, an accomplished business leader, philanthropist, pilot, and astronaut, as Administrator of NASA.

Jared's passion for Space, astronaut experience, and dedication to pushing the boundaries of exploration, unlocking the mysteries of the universe, and advancing the new Space economy, make him ideally suited to lead NASA into a bold new Era.

Congratulations to Jared, his wife Monica, and their children, Mila and Liv. Thank you for your attention to this matter!

Thank you, Mr. President for this opportunity. It will be an honor to serve my country under your leadership. I am also very grateful to Sec. Duffy, who skillfully oversees NASA alongside his many other responsibilities.

The support from the space-loving community has been overwhelming. I am not sure how I earned the trust of so many, but I will do everything I can to live up to those expectations.

To the innovators building the orbital economy, to the scientists pursuing breakthrough discoveries and to dreamers across the world eager for a return to the Moon and the grand journey beyond — these are the most exciting times since the dawn of the space age — and I truly believe the future we have all been waiting for will soon become reality.

And to the best and brightest at NASA, and to all the commercial and international partners, we have an extraordinary responsibility — but the clock is running. The journey is never easy, but it is time to inspire the world once again to achieve the near-impossible — to undertake and accomplish big, bold endeavors in space... and when we do, we will make life better here at home and challenge the next generation to go even further.

NASA will never be a caretaker of history —but will forever make history.

Godspeed, President Donald J. Trump, and Godspeed NASA, as America leads the greatest adventure in human history.

It is true that Athena was a draft plan I worked on with a very small group from the time of my initial nomination through its withdrawal in May. Parts of it are now dated, and it was always intended to be a living document refined through data gathering post-confirmation. I would think it is better to have a plan going into a responsibility as great as the leadership of NASA than no plan at all.

It is also true that only one 62-page version of the plan (with unique header/footer markings) was delivered in hard copy back in mid-August to a single party. I learned it was leaked to reporters and across industry last week. It seems some people are letting politics get in the way of the mission and the President's goals for space. Personally, I think the "why" behind the timing of this document circulating — and the spin being given to reporters — is the real story.

While the full plan exceeded 100 pages, it centered around five main priorities that I will summarize below, including some specifics on the topics attracting the most interest. There is the question — why not release the entire document? Well, one party is clearly circulating it, so I am sure it is only a matter of time before it becomes public — in which case, I will stand behind it. I think there are many elements of the plan that the space community and NASA would find exciting, and it would be disappointing if they never came to fruition. Mostly, I just don't think the space community needs to debate line-by-line while NASA and the rest of the government are going through a shutdown. I will say everything in the report is consistent with my Senate testimony, my written responses to the Senate for the record, and all the podcasts and papers I have ever spoken to on the subject.

Reorganize and Empower

Pivot from the drawn-out, multi-phase RIF "death by a thousand cuts" to a single, data-driven reorganization aimed at reducing layers of bureaucracy between leadership and the engineers, researchers, and technicians — basically all the "doers." Align departments tightly to the mission so that information flows for quick decision-making. One example, which was mischaracterized by a reporter, was exploring relocating all aircraft to Armstrong so there could be a single hierarchy for aviation operations, maintenance, and safety. From there, aircraft like T-38s would operate on detachment at JSC. Other goals of the reorganization, would be to liberate the NASA budget from dated infrastructure that is in disrepair to free up resources to invest in what is needed for the mission of the day. And maybe most importantly, reenergize a culture of empowerment, ownership, and urgency — and recalibrate a framework that acknowledges some risks are worth taking.

American Leadership in the High Ground of Space

Put more astronauts in space with greater frequency, including rebooting the Payload Specialist programs to give opportunities for the NASA workforce — especially on opportunities that could unlock the orbital economy — the chance to go to space. Fulfill the 35-year promise and President Trump's Artemis plan to return American astronauts to the Moon and determine the scientific, economic, and national security reasons to support an enduring lunar presence. Eventually, transition to an affordable, repeatable lunar architecture that supports frequent missions. When that foundation is built, shift resources toward the near-impossible that no one else will work on like nuclear electric propulsion for efficient transport of mass, active cooling of cryogenic propellants, surface power, and even potential DoD applications. To be clear, the plan does not issue a directive to cancel Gateway or SLS, in fact, the word "Gateway" is used only three times in the entire document. It does explore the possibility of pivoting hardware and resources to a nuclear electric propulsion program after the objectives of the President's budget are complete. On the same note, it also seeks to research the possibility that Orion could be launched on multiple platforms to support a variety of future mission applications. As an example of the report being dated, Sen. Cruz's has subsequently incorporated additional funding in the OBBB for further Artemis missions — which brings clarity to the topic.

Solving the Orbital Economy

Maximize the remaining life of the ISS. Streamline the process for high-potential science and research to reach orbit. Partner with industry (pharmaceuticals, mining, biotech, etc) to figure out how to extract more value from space than we put in — and critically attempt to solve the orbital economy. That is the only way commercial space station companies will have a fighting chance to succeed. I don't think there is anything controversial here — we need to figure out how to pay for the exciting future we all want to see in space.

NASA as a Force Multiplier for Science

Leverage NASA's resources — financial (bulk buying launch and bus from numerous providers), technical, and operational expertise to increase the frequency of missions, reduce costs, and empower academic institutions to contribute to real discovery missions. The idea is to get some of that $1 trillion in university endowments into the fight, alongside NASA, to further science and discovery. Expand the CLPS-style approach across planetary science to accelerate discovery and reduce time-to-science... better to have 10 x $100 million missions and a few fail than a single overdue and costly $1B+ mission. I know the "science-as-a-service" concept got people fired up, but that was specifically called out in the plan for Earth observation, from companies that already have constellations like Planet, BlackSky, etc. Why build bespoke satellites at greater cost and delay when you could pay for the data as needed from existing providers and repurpose the funds for more planetary science missions (as an example)? With respect to JPL, it was a research request to look at overlaps between the work of the laboratory and what prime contractors were also doing on their behalf. The report never even remotely suggested that America could ever do without the Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Personally, I have publicly defended programs like the Chandra X-ray Observatory, offered to fund a Hubble reboost mission, and anything suggesting that I am anti-science or want to outsource that responsibility is simply untrue.

Investing in the Future

The congressionally mandated "learning period" will eventually expire, and the government will inevitably play a greater role in certifying commercial missions (crewed and uncrewed) just like they do with aircraft, ships, trains, etc. NASA eventually should build a Starfleet Academy to train and prepare the commercial industry to operate safely and successfully in this future space economy, and consolidate and upgrade mission control into a single "NORAD of peaceful space," allowing JSC to become the spaceflight center of excellence and oversee multiple government and commercial missions simultaneously. Other investments for the future included AI, replacing dated IT systems, and ways to alleviate the demand on the Deep Space Network.

Closing

This plan never favored any one vendor, never recommended closing centers, or directed the cancellation of programs before objectives were achieved. The plan valued human exploration as much as scientific discovery. It was written as a starting place to give NASA, international partners, and the commercial sector the best chance for long-term success. The more I see the imperfections of politics and the lengths people will go, the more I want to serve and be part of the solution... because I love NASA and I love my country.