
President Donald Trump’s pick agency is close to becoming the 15th administrator of the pick agency to lead NASA in his second term.
On Wednesday, by one vote of 19–9, the US Senate Commerce Committee selected the nomination of the Jreds Isaqman to the full Senate. The vote will come to the latter date, which has not been determined yet.
Committee Chairman Sen Ted Cruise (R-TX) opened the hearing by giving voice to his intention to support Isaacman’s nomination to go out of the committee, urged them to focus on the crew’s lunar exploration.
“As we heard at his nomination hearing earlier this month, the said ‘NASA was designed to impossible.” I agree, but NASA’s plans for space should remain in reality and align with our strategic interests, “said Cruise.” The current law instructs NASA to establish a quotation, “Continuous human appearance in Sisalunar Space or Moon.” Federal law is clearly asked to reach the moon, quotation, ‘a step stone’.
“In other words, our passage for predominance in space begins with Artemis missions.”
During the hearing of its confirmation earlier this month, Isaacman faced several questions about his support of the current Artemis Program Architecture, which used NASA’s space launch system rocket and Orion Spacecraft, which would use the agency’s astronauts to get from Sisalunar Space.
Following his oral reaction, Isaacman also responded to a series of written questions to Democrats and Republicans. In the list of his questions, Cruz asked about the long -term vision of Isaacman’s moon and eventually the crew for the transport of the crew for Mars.
Isaqman said that the use of NASA’s rocket is not the best solution in the future.
“As I said during the hearing, SLS is the current plan and the fastest way of sending American astronauts back to the Moon in front of its geopolitical rivals. And it is a race that we cannot risk losing,” Isaqmann wrote. “But once we fulfill our early lunar objectives, I believe that NASA should infection from competing with the industry and focus again that no other agency or organization is able to complete what.”
Isaacman did not specify what the formation of NASA’s “early lunar objectives”, but went to the commercial launch market to provide its support to the market capacity to provide huge capabilities.
“NASA should take advantage of that competition and eventually resume its world -class talent and infrastructure that no one else is doing: developing the next generation exploration technologies,” he wrote. “This includes nuclear-managed spacecraft, which I believe that logical for long periods represent deep space missions beyond Mars.”
Isaacman also earned the support of the rankings member Sen Maria Cantwell (D-WA), who also quoted her support, which is “significant requirement for us in this situation” from the goals of the Artemis program.
“While it is not clear to me where the Trump administration will eventually end on NASA’s budget, and I am concerned about his proposed deduction today, Mr. Isaqman’s two lander excesses, the space launch system and the current plan to return to the moon, are committed to the current plan,” Cantwell said.
“I think this is a very competitive issue for the United States. This competition is not just a goal, it is a reality that someday we can wake up and leave ourselves behind. So today, I will support their nomination and hope that we will continue to get out of administration on clarification on supporting a strong NASA budget.”
The agency is facing a possible reduction of 47 percent in its science program. Recently in podcast appearance, KC Draer, head of the space policy for the Planetary Society, a non-non-profit organization, described the cut as generally harmful.
“This is not a budget that is in a sense focused on proficiency in that sense, and it is not a budget that shouts good, smart management. It is a budget of destruction and retrenchment,” said the draon. “It will fundamentally change the relationship of the United States for space science, and it will originally present a small version of itself than to be used to see in its lifetime.”
In response to a written question of Cantwell about the reduction of about 50 percent in NASA’s science budget, Isaqman said that when he has not reviewed the official discussions or has not held a party, the step is “not a optimal result.”
“As I said during the hearing, NASA requires the best and talented talent from all over the nation, to meet what an other agency or organization cannot do – especially in an environment that demands to do more with less,” Isaqmann wrote. “I support the President’s commitment to eliminate fraud, waste, misconduct and unnecessary bureaucracy that can hinder the mission of the agency. If confirmed, I will advocate NASA’s priorities and require the necessary resources to move forward efficiently and effectively.”
When asked for a vote, nine Democratic Senators in the committee voted against advancing the nomination of Isaacman, including four Republican senators including all Republican Senators. Any senator who voted against taking forward his nomination was elected to talk during the hearing before giving his vote.