Expect NASA to begin training new astronauts



Elon Musk Gets His Mini-Me at NASA: The Atlantic

Yesterday, President-Elect Donald Trump announced his nomination of Jared Isaacman, a 41-year-old entrepreneur, private astronaut, and pilot, as the head of NASA. The statement that went out was pretty bland. It included stock phrases—“delighted to”; “paving the way”; “demonstrated exceptional leadership”—of the type that corporations use when elevating middle managers. Reading it, I wondered whether Trump’s heart is really in this selection of a billionaire with a history of supporting Democratic candidates and committees.

Maybe this was Elon Musk’s decision. Isaacman is a pal and an extreme admirer of Musk’s. “I generally try not to bother the guy,” Isaacman has said, when asked about their relationship. “He’s literally thinking all the time about solving the world’s problems.” In some ways, Isaacman is Musk’s Mini-Me. Both men made their fortune, in part, from payment-processing companies. Both used their wealth to pursue their boyhood dreams of spaceflight: Musk created SpaceX; Isaacman began in the lower atmosphere, by buying up the world’s largest commercial fleet of ex-military aircraft. In 2021, Isaacman treated himself to an entire SpaceX mission, which allowed him to see the Earth from space. Earlier this year, he again hired SpaceX to fire him into orbit to conduct the first private spacewalk.

If Isaacman is confirmed by the Senate and takes the reins at NASA, he will have leveled up from being a small, albeit highly visible, purchaser of SpaceX’s services to the company’s largest customer.
...