During a Senate hearing on Wednesday, Jared Isaacman, President Donald Trump‘s pick for NASA administrator, said he would not allow Elon Musk to influence his work as head of the space agency.
Isaacman testified before the Senate Commerce Committee that he would not allow Musk, the SpaceX CEO who has helmed Department of Government Efficiency efforts in the White House, to exert control or outsize influence over the space agency.
“My loyalty is to this nation, the space agency, and their world-changing mission,” Isaacman said in response to a question from Sen. Gary Peters (D-MI). “I have to imagine in the 1960s, Administrator [James] Webb would have taken photo calls and welcomed the input from all the various contractors that were contributing to the endeavor.”
“But they’re the contractors; NASA is the customer. They work for us, not the other way around,” he added, referring to SpaceX, a contractor for NASA.
Trump’s NASA pick also reiterated that he plans to go forward with missions to the moon while pursuing the wider goal of sending humans to Mars in the future.
“As the president stated, we will prioritize sending 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,” Isaacman said.
ASTRONAUT MAROONED IN SPACE FOR NINE MONTHS CALLS MISSION ‘SUCCESS’
The Artemis project, where the United States aims to return to the lunar surface, had its first uncrewed mission in 2022. The first crewed mission, which will orbit the moon, is scheduled to launch in 2026, while the crewed mission to the lunar surface is scheduled for 2027.
The Artemis III mission in 2027 is slated to be the first crewed moon landing since the Apollo 17 mission in December 1972.
