​Currently Ongoing: Tune in to see Billionaire Astronaut Jared Isaacman as he participates in his hearing to potentially head NASA.
 
April 9, 2025

​Currently Ongoing: Tune in to see Billionaire Astronaut Jared Isaacman as he participates in his hearing to potentially head NASA.  

Happening Now: Watch Billionaire Astronaut Jared Isaacman’s Hearing to Lead NASA_67f6ca8b1124b.jpeg

The U.S. Senate is set to decide on Jared Isaacman’s nomination for NASA administrator, weighing the future of the space agency under the growing influence of the private industry.

Isaacman—entrepreneur, pilot, and wealthy space enthusiast—will appear at a confirmation hearing to confirm his nomination for the position of NASA administrator at 10 a.m. ET on Wednesday. The nominee will appear before the U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation. NASA will stream the event live through its website and the agency’s YouTube channel. You can also tune in through the live feed below.

President Donald Trump selected Isaacman to head NASA, pending Senate confirmation. It was an unusual pick for a NASA administrator, a position typically filled by former politicians or people who have a more traditional background in spaceflight.

Isaacman will be asked a series of questions throughout the hearing, which will hopefully clarify his position on certain issues that are crucial to NASA’s future. Ahead of the hearing, Senator Ted Cruz revealed that Isaacman believes in sending astronauts to the Moon before landing humans on the surface of Mars for the first time. Isaacman’s stance on Artemis is crucial, with growing concerns that the current administration might favor a shortcut to Mars instead while scrapping (or diminishing) the upcoming Moon missions.

There are other questions regarding Isaacman’s nomination, namely his allegiance to SpaceX founder and CEO Elon Musk and how that may influence his decision-making as NASA administrator. That might show through his stance on the private sector and how much influence he thinks it should have at NASA. And both Trump and Musk have requested the expedited destruction of the ISS, so it’ll be interesting to see if that comes up during the hearing.

The tech entrepreneur and pilot served as commander on two private missions to space on board SpaceX’s crew capsules. Isaacman’s first stint in space, Inspiration4, launched in September 2021 with the first all-civilian crew to reach orbit. Last year, Isaacman led a four-person crew on board a Dragon spacecraft for the Polaris Dawn mission, which saw two crew members hop out of the capsule to perform the first-ever commercial spacewalk.

NASA faces tight budgets and repeated delays to its Artemis Moon program and is in desperate need of a fresh perspective. Isaacman’s unconventional background could be just what the agency needs, but some worry his ties to the commercial sector could skew the agency’s priorities.

 

Prev Post

​Researchers discuss the potential for extraterrestrial life on Titan, one of Saturn’s moons.  

Next Post

​The oldest satellite in the world has been orbiting in space for 67 years. Engineers Aim to Repatriate it.  

post-bars