2mo ago

Trump nominates Jared Isaacman—Shift4 CEO, commercial astronaut, and Musk friend—to be next NASA administrator.

www.cnbc.com Trump nominates Jared Isaacman, private astronaut and Shift4 CEO, for NASA chief

President-elect Donald Trump on Wednesday nominated Jared Isaacman to be NASA Administrator.

“Jared will drive NASA’s mission of discovery and inspiration, paving the way for groundbreaking achievements in Space science, technology, and exploration,” Trump wrote in a post on social media.

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37 comments

Not great, not terrible
- Likely just going to shovel money at Space X.
  
  Yea, but he going to be really enthusiastic while he is shoveling money to both musk and perhaps himself. And he believes the moon landings are real.
  It could have been a moon landing denier or even a flat earther.
  There is a non zero chance he may actually be good for the space program in general? In the meantime the bar is lowered enough that this may be the best in a bad lot, even if this nomination redefines the term “industry capture”
  
  I mean, the dude loves space so much he paid out of pocket to go there. He’s a real pilot and real astronaut. Not a bad sign at all.
  On the other hand we should always be wary of putting the rich in charge of things.
  
  Taking a tourist trip to space does not make you a real astronaut.
  
  How about running scientific payloads and testing new EVA suits? The Polaris Dawn missions are absolutely not joyrides like we’ve seen other billionaires do.
  
  The definition of an astronaut:
  "The Fédération Aéronautique Internationale (FAI) Sporting Code for astronautics recognizes only flights that exceed the Kármán line, at an altitude of 100 kilometers (62 mi). In the United States, professional, military, and commercial astronauts who travel above an altitude of 80 kilometres (50 mi) are awarded astronaut wings."
  So yes, that does make him an astronaut.
  
  There is a non zero chance he may actually be good for the space program in general?
  He does nothing but criticize NASA long-term plans as they stand and is fine with the privatization of space?
  I'm gonna go out on a limb and say that non-zero chance is something like 0.0000001% chance. Sure, it's not zero, but it still ain't a real fucking good chance.
  
  He does nothing but criticize NASA long-term plans as they stand and is fine with the privatization of space?
  I haven't seen Isaacman's specific criticisms you're talking about, but NASA does have some crappy long-term plans because they've been driving by politicians looking to land pork in their districts. NASA's SLS moon rocket (a Boeing product) is wildly expensive for what it does. Lockheed's moon crew capsule has been in development for over 20 years, currently has a deal-breaking problem they won't disclose (related to heat shield) and has cost us north of $26.6 billion without carrying a humans yet to space.
  If Isaacman is it for NASA, at least he's a spaceflight advocate. He's also been to space, so he'll be a strong advocate for Astronaut safety (another area NASA has had historical difficulty).
  
  If Isaacman is it for NASA, at least he’s a spaceflight advocate.
  He's not a scientist, he's not an engineer, he's a tourist.
  
  He’s not a scientist, he’s not an engineer,
  Neither was Bridenstine.
  he’s a tourist.
  I'm not saying is the best pick for the job. I'm saying that at least they put someone who has an interest in NASA succeeding instead of someone that doesn't give a shit about spaceflight and just wants political power.
  
  Still preferable to shoveling money at Boeing, no? At least SpaceX has a healthy launch cadence of reliable vehicles.
  
  And go all Waxahatchie on current NASA projects.

37 comments