-Jared Isaacman is a businessman and private astronaut
-He would lead the agency as it pursues private partnerships
-Lawmakers want to move NASA to Florida
The Trump administration’s nominee to lead NASA faced questions from the Senate Commerce Committee on Wednesday.
Jared Isaacman is an entrepreneur and commercial astronaut whose ideas for the agency include prioritizing landing humans on Mars and returning to the moon to establish a long-term presence.
Unlike many former NASA administrators, Isaacman does not have a background in public service. He is a billionaire businessman whose fortune enabled him to travel to space, including on the Inspiration4 mission, the first all-citizen spaceflight.
NASA has leaned more on private industry partnerships in recent decades, working with companies like SpaceX and Boeing to develop craft to take goods and people to the International Space Station and eventually to the moon.
The partnerships aim to reduce NASA spending and spur innovation, though they have also posed challenges, including the most recent Starliner test flight that resulted in an extra-long stay at the ISS for its crew.
Isaacman also participated in the first commercial spacewalk on the Polaris Dawn mission, making him the first private citizen to walk in space.
His fortune comes from the payment company Shift4, which he founded when he was 16 years old.
Isaacman would replace NASA acting Administrator Janet Petro as the agency is being lobbied by Florida leaders to make the state its new headquarters.
-NewsNation
