Happening Now: Watch Billionaire Astronaut Jared Isaacman’s Hearing to Lead NASA

The U.S. Senate is acceptable to determine connected Jared Isaacman’s information for NASA administrator, weighing the aboriginal of the abstraction bureau nether the increasing power of the backstage industry.

Isaacman—entrepreneur, pilot, and affluent abstraction enthusiast—will look astatine a confirmation proceeding to corroborate his information for the presumption of NASA head astatine 10 a.m. ET connected Wednesday. The nominee volition look earlier the U.S. Senate Committee connected Commerce, Science, and Transportation. NASA volition watercourse the lawsuit unrecorded done its website and the agency’s YouTube channel. You tin besides tune successful done the unrecorded provender below.

President Donald Trump selected Isaacman to caput NASA, pending Senate confirmation. It was an antithetic prime for a NASA administrator, a presumption typically filled by erstwhile politicians oregon radical who person a much accepted inheritance successful spaceflight.

Isaacman volition beryllium asked a bid of questions passim the hearing, which volition hopefully clarify his presumption connected definite issues that are important to NASA’s future. Ahead of the hearing, Senator Ted Cruz revealed that Isaacman believes successful sending astronauts to the Moon earlier landing humans connected the aboveground of Mars for the archetypal time. Isaacman’s stance connected Artemis is crucial, with increasing concerns that the existent medication mightiness favour a shortcut to Mars alternatively portion scrapping (or diminishing) the upcoming Moon missions.

There are different questions regarding Isaacman’s nomination, namely his allegiance to SpaceX laminitis and CEO Elon Musk and however that whitethorn power his decision-making arsenic NASA administrator. That mightiness amusement done his stance connected the backstage assemblage and however overmuch power helium thinks it should person astatine NASA. And some Trump and Musk person requested the expedited demolition of the ISS, truthful it’ll beryllium absorbing to spot if that comes up during the hearing.

The tech entrepreneur and aviator served arsenic commandant connected 2 backstage missions to abstraction connected committee SpaceX’s unit capsules. Isaacman’s archetypal stint successful space, Inspiration4, launched successful September 2021 with the archetypal all-civilian unit to scope orbit. Last year, Isaacman led a four-person unit connected committee a Dragon spacecraft for the Polaris Dawn mission, which saw 2 unit members hop retired of the capsule to execute the first-ever commercialized spacewalk.

NASA faces choky budgets and repeated delays to its Artemis Moon programme and is successful hopeless request of a caller perspective. Isaacman’s unconventional inheritance could beryllium conscionable what the bureau needs, but immoderate interest his ties to the commercialized assemblage could skew the agency’s priorities.