President Donald Trump’s pick to lead NASA will tell senators on Wednesday that the agency will prioritize an astronaut mission to Mars, while noting that most U.S. space programs are over budget and behind schedule.
“We will prioritize sending American astronauts to Mars. Along the way, we will inevitably have the capabilities to return to the moon and determine the scientific, economic and national security benefits of maintaining a presence on the lunar surface,” said Jared Isaacman, a 42-year-old billionaire entrepreneur, in written testimony for his U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, & Transportation confirmation hearing on Wednesday.
Isaacman told Senate staff last week that returning humans to the moon before China sends its own astronauts there is a national imperative, Reuters reported on Monday. His remarks allayed some concerns that NASA’s multibillion-dollar moon effort could be hindered by Trump and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk’s focus on Mars as a top destination for U.S. astronauts.
NASA’s Artemis moon program was spawned by Trump in his first presidential term as an effort to speed up the U.S. return to the moon, which would be used as a proving ground for eventual, farther-off missions to Mars.
After his assurances to lawmakers about the moon strategy, Isaacman’s written testimony raises questions on whether his prioritization of Mars would affect NASA’s existing moon missions or represent a rebranding of the program to give Mars a more central emphasis in the space agency’s strategy.
The billionaire nominee’s stance on the program is expected to be a major topic during his Senate hearing on Wednesday.
