Incoming Head of NASA Defies Elon Musk on Order to Abandon Moon Program

Billionaire fighter jet pilot-turned-SpaceX astronaut Jared Isaacman is currently attending a confirmation hearing to field questions from Congress.

Despite plenty of concerns over his considerable conflict of interest, Isaacman is widely expected to be sworn in as NASA's next administrator in the coming days or weeks ahead.

Perhaps most notably, Isaacman used the appearance to reiterate his commitment to continue to lead the space agency's long-established Artemis program to return astronauts to the surface of the Moon in his opening remarks — while simultaneously prioritizing "sending American astronauts to Mars" as well.

"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," Isaacman said.

In a symbolic gesture of his commitment to the program, the crew of four NASA astronauts, who are scheduled to travel to and around the Moon as part of the agency's Artemis 2 mission, attended the hearing today.

All that Moon pomp is interesting, because it immediately puts Isaacman at odds with SpaceX CEO Elon Musk, who has publicly called on NASA to scrap its entire Moon program, calling it a "distraction" earlier this year. Instead, Musk proclaimed that "we're going straight to Mars."

Musk has also accused the Artemis program of being "extremely inefficient as it is a jobs-maximizing program, not a results-maximizing program."

Congress, however, has been adamant that ditching NASA's Moon program this late in the game could prove disastrous. Giving up on Artemis would not only be a major geopolitical setback for the United States, but it could be financially unsavvy as well, lawmakers have argued.

"An extreme shift in priorities at this stage would almost certainly mean a red Moon, ceding ground to China for generations to come," said senator Ted Cruz, who chairs the Senate Commerce, Science and Technology committee overseeing today's confirmation hearing. "I'm hard-pressed to think of more of a catastrophic mistake we could make in space than saying to Communist China 'The Moon is yours.'"

Lawmakers have also warned that giving up on NASA's extremely expensive Space Launch System, which the agency is hoping to use to return astronauts to the lunar surface before the end of the decade, could be a huge mistake.

When asked by senator Maria Cantwell, a ranking member of the committee, if he still supports the SLS, Isaacman put it plainly.

"I believe that is still currently the plan," he said. "I'd like nothing more than to see this Artemis 2 crew get around the Moon and then they're back at home watching their friends walk on the Moon."

"I think, the real question is, why has it taken so long, why has it cost so much money?" he added.

It remains to be seen whether Isaaacman's commitment to the Artemis program will put a strain on his relationship with Musk.

Is Isaacman trying to have his cake and eat it, too, by arguing that Americans should return to the Moon while also prioritizing Mars? During his hearing today, Isaacman argued that NASA could feasibly do both, despite a major budget crunch.

"I don't think it has to be a binary decision," he said during today's hearing.

It's unclear how Musk feels about his calls to skip the Moon being ignored, as he has yet to comment on the matter. But chances are, the sparks could soon start flying.

If there's one certainty, it's that Isaacman is now caught between a rock and a hard place. He'll have to tread carefully to appease Congress and its desire to carry on with Artemis — while also staying in the good graces of Musk and SpaceX.

"You have a big challenge here, it's to move us forward at a critical moment," Cantwell told Isaacman during today's hearing.

More on Isaacman: Billionaire SpaceX Customer Flies Private Jet Into DC to Become New Head of NASA