{"id":255238,"date":"2025-11-10T17:15:11","date_gmt":"2025-11-10T17:15:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/255238\/"},"modified":"2025-11-10T17:15:11","modified_gmt":"2025-11-10T17:15:11","slug":"trumps-nasa-pick-has-the-space-community-buzzing-with-a-leaked-plan-for-the-agency","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/255238\/","title":{"rendered":"Trump\u2019s NASA pick has the space community buzzing with a leaked plan for the agency"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n A 62-page document written by President Donald Trump\u2019s on-again-off-again pick to run NASA, billionaire Jared Isaacman<\/a>, outlines a sweeping, ambitious, and at times controversial plan for the space agency.\n <\/p>\n

\n Isaacman, who was tapped<\/a> to be NASA administrator after Trump was elected in 2024, only to see his nomination retracted<\/a> months later, was renominated<\/a> for the top job last Tuesday.\n <\/p>\n

\n While Isaacman has publicly acknowledged the leaked document, which is labeled May 2025 but was recently leaked to several news outlets, he said<\/a> in a social media post that \u201cparts of it are now dated.\u201d He did not specify which portions were obsolete.\n <\/p>\n

\n It nonetheless set off a flurry of speculation about how the space agency would function with Isaacman at the helm. A copy of the document was obtained and authenticated by CNN.\n <\/p>\n

\n In his statement, which was posted the day of his renomination, Isaacman said<\/a> that \u201cProject Athena,\u201d as the paper is titled, \u201cwas always intended to be a living document refined through data gathering post-confirmation.\u201d\n <\/p>\n

\n \u201cI would think it is better to have a plan going into a responsibility as great as the leadership of NASA than no plan at all,\u201d the statement reads.\n <\/p>\n

\n Among the proposed goals are revamping some NASA centers to focus on nuclear electric propulsion, establishing a new Mars exploration program, and embracing an \u201caccelerate\/fix\/delete\u201d philosophy to reshape the agency.\n <\/p>\n

\n If enacted, many of the policies laid out could significantly alter the day-to-day lives of NASA workers and transform the 67-year-old agency.\n <\/p>\n

\n \u201cI think it is presenting a more dramatic set of changes than many in the space community were expecting,\u201d said Casey Dreier, the chief of space policy at the nonprofit exploration advocacy group Planetary Society, of the document.\n <\/p>\n

\n Some lawmakers have also expressed concern about how Isaacman might seek to reform NASA campuses across the country.\n <\/p>\n

\n Isaacman still faces a confirmation vote in the Senate and would need Congressional approval for many of the objectives mapped out in the document.\n <\/p>\n

\n As a tech CEO \u2014 who made his fortune by founding payments company Shift4 at age 16 and has twice flown to orbit<\/a> on self-funded SpaceX missions \u2014 Isaacman is an unorthodox pick for NASA\u2019s top role.\n <\/p>\n

\n Space agency administrators are typically selected from a pool of scientists, engineers, academics and public servants.\n <\/p>\n

\n But Isaacman has also garnered broad support within the commercial space industry, where he\u2019s perceived as an energetic outsider ready to usher NASA into a new era.\n <\/p>\n

\n According to a source familiar with the matter, the original Project Athena document was more than 100 pages. Isaacman made only three hard copies of a truncated 62-page version and distributed them to Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy and his chief of staff. The leak \u2014 according to a recent Ars Technica report and a source who confirmed the account to CNN \u2014 looked to have been part of an effort by Duffy, who is temporarily running NASA, to spur controversy and potentially thwart Isaacman\u2019s renomination.\n <\/p>\n

\n CNN previously reported<\/a> that Duffy has said privately that he would like to hold the space chief title permanently, according to a source familiar with the matter.\n <\/p>\n

\"US<\/p>\n

\n A spokesperson for Duffy previously denied that he\u2019s said he wishes to remain in the NASA administrator job, and Isaacman said in his social media statement, posted after the \u201cProject Athena\u201d document was leaked, that he believes Duffy has \u201cgreat instincts and is an excellent communicator.\u201d (The spokesperson for Duffy did not offer comment for this story.)\n <\/p>\n

\n \u201cIf there is any friction, I suspect it is more political operators causing the controversy,\u201d Isaacman said.\n <\/p>\n

\n Isaacman was renominated for the NASA post on November 4, one day after reports about the Athena document began circulating in the news.\n <\/p>\n

\n \u201cI think (the people who leaked Project Athena) thought this would ruffle feathers amongst the delegations that care about human spaceflight,\u201d said one former NASA official, speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss a private document. \u201cI will tell you \u2014 it hasn\u2019t worked.\u201d\n <\/p>\n

\n CNN reached out to nearly a dozen senators whose home states have NASA centers that could be pegged for major changes, according to the Project Athena document. Sen. Mark Warner of Virginia and Sen. Chris Van Hollen of Maryland \u2014 the home of Goddard Space Flight Center \u2014 offered the most detailed responses.\n <\/p>\n

\n Van Hollen said in a statement that he had met with Isaacman earlier this year and he \u201clooks forward to another hearing to discuss further with him why the next space race and the search for habitable planets runs through Maryland.\u201d\n <\/p>\n

\n \u201cTo protect our nation\u2019s innovation leadership, he must be more than a rubber stamp for the Administration\u2019s chainsaw approach to our space science initiatives,\u201d Van Hollen said.\n <\/p>\n

\"Workers<\/p>\n

\n Warner, whose state houses NASA\u2019s Langley campus, urged Isaacman to \u201cengage with Congress and reconsider any plan that threatens these world-class facilities and the communities that depend on them.\u201d\n <\/p>\n

\n \u201cThe reported proposals to downsize or privatize key missions at Langley and Wallops would be a serious mistake, jeopardizing critical scientific capabilities and the talented workforce whose expertise keeps the United States at the forefront of aerospace research,\u201d Warner\u2019s statement reads.\n <\/p>\n

\n No lawmaker reached by CNN indicated how they intended to vote on Isaacman\u2019s confirmation.\n <\/p>\n

A Mars shot and nuclear propulsion<\/p>\n

\n One eye-popping proposal in Project Athena is to set up a new Mars program, dubbed \u201cOlympus.\u201d\n <\/p>\n

\n Much of that vision, the source familiar with the document told CNN, was intended to align NASA with SpaceX\u2019s goal of sending an uncrewed Starship spacecraft to the Martian surface next year.\n <\/p>\n

\n SpaceX\u2019s plan, which CEO Elon Musk discussed<\/a> publicly in May, \u201cwas going to be a more-or-less free mission that SpaceX was going to do anyway,\u201d the source said. The thinking was that NASA could step in to provide support through the Olympus program at minimal cost to taxpayers, according to the source.\n <\/p>\n

\n The document also includes numerous mentions of setting up an expansive program to pursue nuclear electric propulsion \u2014 which involves powering spacecraft engines with electricity from small nuclear reactors. The technology could one day provide steady, long-lasting power for faster and more flexible deep-space missions, including Mars travel.\n <\/p>\n

\n Isaacman has pushed publicly for expanding such research, writing in an August op-ed for RealClearScience<\/a> that he coauthored with Newt Gingrich that the space agency should focus on tasks and research \u201cno other agency, organization, or company is capable of accomplishing.\u201d\n <\/p>\n

\n Nuclear electric propulsion is an example of such a focus area, the op-ed argues.\n <\/p>\n

\n \u201cOur competitors are not waiting. China and Russia are investing heavily in nuclear space technologies. If America wants to lead, NASA must take on the hard problems again and do the near-impossible,\u201d Isaacman and Gingrich wrote in the article.\n <\/p>\n

\n Project Athena also suggests setting up a demonstration mission to dock a nuclear electric propulsion spacecraft with a crewed vehicle in orbit, according to the leaked paper.\n <\/p>\n

\"NASA<\/p>\n

\n Isaacman\u2019s nuclear vision also proposes that NASA centers working on projects like the Space Launch System rocket<\/a> \u2014 including the Marshall and Michoud facilities in Alabama and Louisiana \u2014 shift their focus to nuclear electric propulsion development when the SLS program concludes.\n <\/p>\n

\n When contacted for comment, a spokesperson for Sen. Tommy Tuberville of Alabama said Tuberville had not met with Isaacman yet but he \u201cwill, of course, ask about Marshall.\u201d\n <\/p>\n

\n The source familiar with the document noted that it was crafted around the same time the Trump White House drafted the President\u2019s Budget Request, or PBR, which called for canceling NASA\u2019s SLS rocket and some other major projects that could have left multiple NASA centers without a cornerstone program.\n <\/p>\n

\n The source said that Isaacman began compiling the Project Athena document in late 2024 and updated it as he had conversations with policymakers. The source also said that Isaacman did not help draft the PBR.\n <\/p>\n

\n With this summer\u2019s \u201cBig Beautiful Bill\u201d expressly extending the SLS program through at least the next four missions, it appears Isaacman may delay implementing a bold new focus on nuclear electric propulsion research.\n <\/p>\n

\n Isaacman said<\/a> November 4 on social media that he hopes to zero-in on those pursuits only after a \u201cfoundation\u201d of lunar exploration has been built.\n <\/p>\n

\n When the Project Athena document was drafted in early 2025, Trump had already signaled a renewed interest in Mars \u2014 even mentioning exploration of the planet in his inaugural address<\/a> while staying silent on NASA\u2019s ongoing efforts to return astronauts to the moon.\n <\/p>\n

\n Isaacman echoed Trump\u2019s Mars ambitions during a confirmation hearing in April, saying he intended to pursue exploration of the red planet in tandem with NASA\u2019s moon program. However, questions about how he would fund such projects loomed<\/a>.\n <\/p>\n

\"This<\/p>\n

\n In the months since, however, the moon has emerged as the clear policy priority<\/a> amid a renewed space race with China, which is aiming to land its taikonauts on the lunar surface by 2030.\n <\/p>\n

\n The recent push to bolster NASA\u2019s moon missions, including a $10 billion influx Congress gave the agency\u2019s human spaceflight efforts in July, \u201cbrings clarity to the topic,\u201d Isaacman said in his social media statement.\n <\/p>\n

\n But Isaacman is back in the running for the top NASA job at a time when the agency\u2019s plans for a crewed moon landing, called Artemis III, are in flux<\/a>.\n <\/p>\n

\n The Artemis III mission, which is slated to launch later this decade, currently hinges on SpaceX\u2019s Starship ferrying NASA astronauts down to the lunar surface.\n <\/p>\n

\n But some policy experts have grown increasingly concerned<\/a> that Starship \u2014 the most powerful rocket ever built \u2014 is too large, novel and complex to meet NASA\u2019s urgent timeline.\n <\/p>\n

\n Duffy recently signaled a willingness to boot SpaceX<\/a> off the project, saying he would ask the company and its chief competitor, Blue Origin, to show how they could expedite development of their respective lunar landers.\n <\/p>\n

\n Those remarks prompted an acerbic response from Musk, a friend of Isaacman\u2019s, who referred to the interim NASA leader as \u201cSean Dummy<\/a>.\u201d\n <\/p>\n

\n Isaacman has not publicly said whether he would support sidelining SpaceX from the Artemis III mission. But a source familiar with the matter said that Isaacman has expressed an intention to partner with whichever company most quickly produces an astronaut-worthy lunar lander.\n <\/p>\n

\n The Project Athena \u201cplan never favored any one vendor, never recommended closing centers, or directed the cancellation of programs before objectives were achieved,\u201d Isaacman said in his social media statement.\n <\/p>\n

\n \u201cThe plan valued human exploration as much as scientific discovery,\u201d Isaacman said. \u201cIt was written as a starting place to give NASA, international partners, and the commercial sector the best chance for long-term success.\u201d\n <\/p>\n

\n The source familiar with the Project Athena document said some of the more controversial aspects of the plan warrant more explanation.\n <\/p>\n

\n One line item in the document, for example, states that Isaacman intends to take \u201cNASA out of the taxpayer funded climate science business and leave it for academia to determine\u201d \u2014 a proposal that critics say said could impede the nation\u2019s ability to gather crucial environmental data.\n <\/p>\n

\n The document also maps out similar policies that could be applied across many of NASA\u2019s initiatives, such as recommendations to embrace \u201cscience-as-service\u201d for future projects.\n <\/p>\n

\n Such measures, calling for researchers to focus on purchasing data from the private sector, could mark a significant change for the agency.\n <\/p>\n

\"This<\/p>\n

\n Similar policy philosophies have been tried at NASA, particularly in the 1990s during a \u201cbetter, faster, cheaper reformulation,\u201d Dreier noted. But enthusiasm waned for that approach when a pair of Mars missions<\/a> were lost.\n <\/p>\n

\n And the commercial space industry may not be in a position to take up all the tasks Isaacman\u2019s Athena document suggests it can, he said.\n <\/p>\n

\n \u201cIt places a lot of faith on the commercial marketplace to deliver in ways that it hasn\u2019t had the chance to fully be tested on,\u201d Dreier said.\n <\/p>\n

\n Isaacman\u2019s social media statement also acknowledges his \u201cscience-as-a-service\u201d concept \u201cgot people fired up\u201d but clarified that he intended to focus on purchasing data from Earth observation satellites: \u201cWhy build bespoke satellites at greater cost and delay when you could pay for the data as needed from existing providers and repurpose the funds for more planetary science missions (as an example)?\u201d\n <\/p>\n

\n Isaacman has also publicly defended science programs such as the Chandra X-ray Observatory, which was slated for budget cuts in the PBR. And he stated he\u2019d be willing to spend his own money to get the Nancy Grace Roman space telescope off the ground. \u201cI was prepared to personally cover the cost to launch Roman \u2014 if that\u2019s what it took to get to the science,\u201d Isaacman said in a June social media post<\/a>. (That same promise appears in the Project Athena document.)\n <\/p>\n

\n \u201cAnything suggesting that I am anti-science or want to outsource that responsibility is simply untrue,\u201d Isaacman\u2019s November 4 statement reads.\n <\/p>\n

\n Among the other proposals in the Project Athena document are plans to hasten NASA\u2019s reorganization. The agency has already lost roughly 4,000 of its 18,000 employees as part of the Trump administration\u2019s deferred resignation program.\n <\/p>\n

\n Isaacman said in his social media statement last week that he wishes to move away from rolling out piecemeal change and instead implement \u201ca single, data-driven reorganization aimed at reducing layers of bureaucracy between leadership and the engineers, researchers, and technicians.\u201d\n <\/p>\n

\n Extensive changes, however, could further disgruntle a workforce that has been reeling<\/a> from looming budget cuts and what employees have described<\/a> as political distractions and discordant communication from leadership.\n <\/p>\n

\n Isaacman\u2019s document also details myriad other plans to change how the agency operates \u2014 such as conducting a sweeping review of NASA\u2019s boards and committees to suspend any that \u201cdelay decision making,\u201d and reimagine the space agency\u2019s approach to risk assessment.\n <\/p>\n

\n \u201cWe will ensure safety is at the forefront of our decisions but achieving the mission of NASA means accepting that some risks are worth taking,\u201d the document reads.\n <\/p>\n

\"Seven<\/p>\n

\n Former NASA astronaut and SpaceX advisor Garrett Reisman, who has long said he believes NASA may have become too risk-averse in the wake of the 2003 Columbia disaster, told CNN in a November 8 phone interview he was encouraged to see that Isaacman hopes to reevaluate that aspect of the agency.\n <\/p>\n

\n It would be unwise, he added, to start eliminating safety organizations \u2014 but they could be revamped to create a \u201chealthy tension\u201d between risk assessors and engineers seeking to push boundaries.\n <\/p>\n

\n However, he cautioned that \u201cit\u2019s really hard to know in the moment if you\u2019re going too far or not,\u201d Reisman said. \u201cIt\u2019s a very difficult thing to do, so I wish him good luck.\u201d\n <\/p>\n

\n Isaacman is generally well regarded across the space industry, where he has largely been viewed as a passionate leader who can enact visionary change.\n <\/p>\n

\n In an emailed statement, Dreier, the Planetary Society executive, acknowledged that the Project Athena document \u201cwas prepared in a different era.\u201d NASA has since received billions of dollars for projects including lunar exploration, Dreier noted, and science advocates have demonstrated an outpouring of opposition to Trump\u2019s proposed cuts to research.\n <\/p>\n

\n Isaacman\u2019s renomination to the NASA chief job now presents \u201ca good opportunity to engage on some of these proposals, particularly as they relate to science,\u201d Dreier added.\n <\/p>\n

\n In his social media post, Isaacman said that, if the Project Athena document becomes public, \u201cI will stand behind it,\u201d adding that he believes \u201cthere are many elements of the plan that the space community and NASA would find exciting.\u201d\n <\/p>\n

\n But he did not wish to debate the plan \u201cline-by-line while NASA and the rest of the government are going through a shutdown,\u201d according to the November 4 post.\n <\/p>\n

\n More broadly, Isaacman has suggested he intends to enter the NASA job with an open mind and adjust course based on feedback.\n <\/p>\n

\n In a social media post in June, for example, Isaacman wrote that he \u201cdidn\u2019t love\u201d being approached by \u201cpeople who thought they were uniquely NASA\u2019s savior.\u201d He added: \u201cI have little interest in doing the same.\u201d\n <\/p>\n

\n Sign up for CNN\u2019s Wonder Theory science newsletter<\/a>. Explore the universe with news on fascinating discoveries, scientific advancements and more.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A 62-page document written by President Donald Trump\u2019s on-again-off-again pick to run NASA, billionaire Jared Isaacman, outlines a…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":255239,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[23],"tags":[90,416,56,54,55],"class_list":{"0":"post-255238","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-space","8":"tag-science","9":"tag-space","10":"tag-uk","11":"tag-united-kingdom","12":"tag-unitedkingdom"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/255238","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=255238"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/255238\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/255239"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=255238"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=255238"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=255238"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}