Move over, sci-fi movies – real-life space drama just leveled up! President-elect Donald Trump has nominated 41-year-old tech mogul Jared Isaacman, the first private citizen to perform a spacewalk via SpaceX, as NASA's next leader. If confirmed, he'll swap billionaire boardrooms for moon missions and Mars rovers.
Isaacman, CEO of payment giant Shift4, isn't your typical space suit. A high-school dropout turned fighter jet pilot , he's funded multiple SpaceX flights since 2021 – including a cosmic joyride with contest winners and a historic 2023 test of SpaceX's new spacewalk gear. 'Rook' (his fighter pilot callsign) told X: \"Seeing Earth from space lit my fire for America's next giant leap.\"
He'd replace 82-year-old Bill Nelson, a former astronaut-turned-senator who shepherded NASA's Artemis program – aiming to land humans on the moon by 2026. But with SpaceX's Starship rockets and tight budgets, Isaacman's biz-savvy could reshape priorities. Elon Musk cheered the pick, calling him a \"high-integrity leader.\"
Meanwhile, NASA's plate is overflowing:
Starliner astronauts stranded at the ISS until 2024
Perseverance rover gathering Mars samples (but how to get them home?)
Europa Clipper probing Jupiter's icy moon for alien life
Isaacman's already booked two more SpaceX flights, including Starship's first crewed Earth orbit. Could his 'geek since kindergarten' energy reignite public passion for space? The Senate confirmation battle – and the cosmos – await.
– real-life space drama just leveled up! President-elect Donald Trump has nominated 41-year-old tech mogul Jared Isaacman, the first private citizen to perform a spacewalk via SpaceX, as NASA's next leader. If confirmed, he'll swap billionaire boardrooms for moon missions and Mars rovers.
, he's funded multiple SpaceX flights since 2021 – including a cosmic joyride with contest winners 
and a historic 2023 test of SpaceX's new spacewalk gear. 'Rook' (his fighter pilot callsign) told X: \"Seeing Earth from space lit my fire for America's next giant leap.\"
– aiming to land humans on the moon by 2026. But with SpaceX's Starship rockets and tight budgets, Isaacman's biz-savvy could reshape priorities. Elon Musk cheered the pick, calling him a \"high-integrity leader.\"
Starliner astronauts stranded at the ISS until 2024
Perseverance rover gathering Mars samples (but how to get them home?)
Europa Clipper probing Jupiter's icy moon for alien life
reignite public passion for space? The Senate confirmation battle – and the cosmos – await.
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