Jacob Isaacman, President Trump’s candidate for NASA Administrator, was subjected to intense questioning before the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation on April 9. The big question for most of the senators was the possibility that Isaacman, a friend and a protégé of Elon Musk, would follow Musk’s view of scrapping the lunar program and proceeding directly to a Mars mission. Even Republicans on the committee, including Sen. Ted Cruz from Texas, who represents the Johnson Space Center, is determined to keep the mission of NASA firmly focused on the Artemis program, which is centered on the Moon.
Isaacman tried to keep his distance from Musk, as it was a red flag for the Democrats on the committee, but he remained ambiguous about his whole-hearted commitment to a lunar base. He insisted that he would continue the work on Artemis, but that this did not preclude work on Mars, saying that NASA could do both. This is, of course, a general position within NASA, but the real concern of the senators would be if funds spent on any Mars projects would deprive Artemis of its funding. Artemis presently is behind schedule and over budget.
It is unlikely that, if he were chosen as Administrator, he would be allowed to deviate from the program, given that Cruz and his Democratic ranking member on the committee, Maria Cantwell, had put into law that NASA must maintain its presence in cis-lunar space, or on the Moon. Unfortunately, most senators are in favor of lunar exploration, not because it is a necessary prerequisite for any Mars exploration, but because they hope to get a lunar base before the Chinese do. The discussion also dealt with the helium-3 issue, with Cruz arguing that if China has the helium-3 for its fusion program and is first with fusion, they will take over the world.
It is likely that Isaacman will be passed by committee if all Republicans stick with this Trump appointee, but there could be more of this debate when the nomination goes to the floor.
