How Trump’s on-again, off-again Nasa appointee emerged from a political black hole | Nasa

Once upon a time, once you fell into Donald Trump’s orbit, your star was destined never to rise again. A number of former allies sidelined since Trump’s first term could attest to this.

The one who emerged from a political black hole to return to the presidential firmament is billionaire private astronaut Jared Isaacman, who will explain to senators on Wednesday – for the second time – why he is the best person to lead the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (Nasa).

Isaacman’s return to the launch pad is an intriguing story about the politics, ambition and above all the vanity of a president determined to ensure that the American flag is planted once again on the surface of the moon before he leaves office in January 2029.

It’s also a victory for Elon Musk, the SpaceX founder who has loudly defended his friend, and who now stands to benefit from Isaacman’s plans to outsource more of what has traditionally been NASA’s core element of scientific discovery and crewing to commercial space operators.

Isaacman, meanwhile, has downplayed his friendship with Musk, and there is no indication that his reappointment is specifically tied to his vision of advancing private enterprise in space. But his monetary ties to SpaceX, revealed in a government financial disclosure report, caught the attention of congressional Democrats, as did his purchase of the Inspiration4 and Polaris Dawn missions aboard SpaceX’s spacecraft, two essentially space tourism flights despite some laudable mission goals.

In May, everything was very different. Trump’s first nomination of the pioneering space adventurer collapsed when the White House discovered that Isaacman had committed the cardinal sin of making past donations to Democratic politicians. Among them was former astronaut and Arizona senator Mark Kelly, now in the administration’s crosshairs over comments urging the military to disobey illegal orders.

In a Truth Social article at the time, Trump said he conducted “a thorough review of prior associations” and found that Isaacman was not “aligned with the mission.” Yet many, including Isaacman himself, viewed his firing as a direct consequence of the now-resolved feud between Trump and Musk.

The president reversed course earlier this month amid an escalating power struggle between acting NASA administrator Sean Duffy and Isaacman’s lobbyists and supporters — including Musk — over the space agency’s future direction.

In making a judgment call to resolve what has been described as a “weeks-long Game of Thrones,” Trump rejected an ambitious plan by Duffy – who is also the US Transportation Secretary – to take on the role permanently and integrate the agency into his own transportation portfolio.

Duffy announced in October that NASA was re-announcing a contract previously won by SpaceX to build the Human Landing System (HLS) that would put American astronauts on the Moon for the first time since 1972.

Some analysts saw the move as an attempt to appease Trump. According to Duffy, SpaceX took too long to develop the crucial element of the Artemis III mission, which is already planned for mid-2027 at the earliest. Offers from other companies, like Jeff Bezos’ ascendant Blue Origin, would spark competition and speed up the timeline.

The move, however, angered many in the White House and appears to have backfired spectacularly. Musk launched a furious defense of SpaceX, issuing a tirade calling the acting administrator “Sean Dummy,” accusing him of trying to “kill NASA” and insisting his company was moving “at lightning speed” compared to the rest of the space industry.

Isaacman, on the other hand, argued in several meetings with Trump to pursue Artemis and HLS full steam ahead and without diversion. Once Trump’s “flag on the moon” moment is achieved, NASA would abandon its own over-budgeted and much-delayed Space Launch System (SLS) – a disposable rocket and Orion capsule combination that formed the Artemis missions – and instead place future flights to the Moon and Mars in the hands of SpaceX and its fully reusable craft.

Some of those with Trump’s ear, like far-right influencer Laura Loomer, have loudly defended Isaacman, pointing out that he has also made substantial donations to Republican causes, including to Trump’s inaugural committee.

Space policy experts, meanwhile, say the reasons and consequences of Isaacman’s reappointment are more complex than a simple focus on returning to the Moon.

His first Senate hearing in April before the Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee preceded the Trump administration’s proposals to gut NASA’s budget and slash science funding to what the Planetary Society called an “extinction-level event.”

At that hearing, after which the committee voted 19-9 to advance his nomination to the Senate, he maintained that science was his top priority, spoke passionately of a “golden age of science and discovery” and touted NASA conducting “multiple flagship science missions at once.”

“A lot has changed since April,” said Marcia Smith, founder and editor-in-chief of spacepolicyonline.com.

“When he first testified, he didn’t know what the budget request was going to be and explained that he didn’t really have detailed knowledge of what was going on at NASA because he wasn’t at NASA. He was talking as an outsider, about doing science, the Moon, Mars and all these other things, all at the same time.

“Now the landscape is sort of different, we have a better understanding of where the administration is in terms of the level of support for NASA.”

Trump has proposed cutting NASA’s annual budget by 24 percent, to $18.8 billion, its lowest level in a decade, with space and Earth science missions bearing the brunt of the cuts. Trump seems entirely focused on his “moon moment,” and Isaacman said he wouldn’t abandon his plans to allow him to have it.

“The drumbeat for America to return to the Moon before China gets there has only gotten louder and louder since April,” Smith said.

“And it’s really a different way of operating. If your only goal is to get there before China, then maybe you’ll rethink your whole plan for Artemis, and not focus on sustainable lunar exploration, or at least make the first Artemis landing part of the sustainable program.”

Isaacman will certainly face questions during his committee hearing Wednesday on Project Athena, a confidential 62-page memo detailing his plans for a radical overhaul of NASA’s structure and operations, written for Duffy and leaked to Politico earlier this month, at the height of the rivalry between the two.

It contained his proposal for large-scale outsourcing of NASA missions to commercial operators and other ways to reduce public spending.

“This plan never favored any particular provider, recommended the closure of centers, or ordered the cancellation of programs before goals were met,” Isaacman wrote in an article on X, denouncing those who leaked it.

“The more I see the imperfections of politics and the efforts people make, the more I want to serve and be part of the solution…because I love NASA and I love my country.” »