Trump Administration withdraws NASA Administrator nomination
This past weekend, the Trump administration withdrew its nomination of Jared Isaacman for NASA Administrator. This sets back the nomination timeline by months, leaving NASA without a permanent leader.
The decision is reportedly political motivated and not related to Isaacman’s qualifications.
Eric Berger, senior space editor at Ars Technica, said the decision comes as a surprise. Isaacman had broad support inside NASA, had donated hundreds of millions of dollars to charity for cancer research and it was clear he was making efforts to reach out both to the private and public space community.
“So, I think there's just general disappointment,” Berger said. “Both for the fact that Isaacman was well liked, kind of younger, energetic, and really was coming to NASA at a time when it needed to take step forward, to modernize.”
Additionally, NASA now faces a new uncertainty with the Turmp administration’s budget request – and no leader to advocate strongly for NASA.
Starship test flight
Berger spoke with Elon Musk, the founder of SpaceX, ahead of the ninth test flight of the company's Starship spacecraft about the mission.
“I got the sense that he realizes that Starship is this, you know, hugely ambitious problem to solve, and that there are going to be setbacks along the way,” Berger said. “And I suspect he was hoping for more than what happened with the test flight, but at the same time, I think there's a recognition that they've still got a lot to learn and a lot of problems to solve before they really get a rapidly reusable rocket.”
Just last week, SpaceX launched its mega-rocket Starship on its ninth test flight. There is some concern considering there are some fundamental issues that still need to be fixed, and NASA is counting on Starship for future moon landings.
“I think SpaceX is going to kind of go its own way,” Berger said. “You know, they do not need funding from NASA like they did five, 10, or 15 years ago, to survive. They're going to continue to work with NASA, but my sense is that Elon is going to be in a mode where he's ready to show the world what SpaceX can do. “
NASA’s budget slashed with Trump budget request
NASA could face a significant budget cut—approximately 25%—under a new request from the White House, if approved by Congress.
If implemented, the budget would cancel about a third of NASA’s science portfolio.
Multiple solar system exploration missions including Juno at Jupiter, New Horizons in the Kuiper Belt, and various Earth and Mars expeditions would be discontinued.
With these new budget cuts, Juno is just one of the missions that could be cut.
Casey Dreier, the Chief of Space Policy for The Planetary Society, a science advocacy organization, anticipates that every single future science mission, as well as further development, will be canceled under this budget.
“And then, of course, major ramping down, ending the SLS and Orion programs, canceling the gateway Space Station, ending NASA's Education Outreach Program entirely,” Dreier said. “And then roughly, laying off about a third of NASA's remaining workforce. That's staggering.”
This budget is similar to the 1961 budget, when adjusted for inflation.
“You have broad cuts to education, you have broad cuts to science, you have cuts to aeronautics. No one is excited about this,” Dreier said. “But again, will that be enough to be able to offset this if Congress itself broadly, and it's not because people like or dislike this budget, but the broader political trends, if they're unable to act in some coherent manner.”
For the agency, this budget cut makes the process of moving forward for future missions even more of a challenge. With no permanent leader and this significant cut, NASA will have to struggle to move forward through these changes.
“NASA will be at the mercy in the whims of the Budget Office or whomever else is creating these ideas and giving it to the space agency and saying, make it work.”
