Jared Isaacman’s ascension still needs to be rubber-stamped by the full Senate, but with no public Republican opposition and support of three Democrats, his progress is effectively a formality.
Significantly for Australia, the 42-year-old entrepreneur has repeatedly backed NASA’s plan to return astronauts to the moon.
The Australian Space Agency is deeply involved in the Artemis program, with ELO2 last year being picked to create a lunar rover that will collect moon soil that could one day help produce oxygen for a human base.
Senator Ted Cruz, chairman of the committee, said he supported the nomination on the basis that it would require NASA to establish a “sustained human presence” on the moon.
“Our path to predominance in space begins with the Artemis missions. Mr Isaacman acknowledges this,” Cruz said.
“For Isaacman, NASA can pursue Martian objectives, yes, absolutely. But these should not detract from the near-term objective of returning to the moon first. Given this explicit commitment, I support Mr Isaacman’s confirmation.”
Isaacman’s backing for Artemis includes supporting the use of Boeing’s Space Launch System rocket and Lockheed Martin’s Orion capsule to make the flights, despite criticism from SpaceX founder and Trump adviser Elon Musk.
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Isaacman, though, has advocated for NASA to attempt to pursue both a mission to the moon and Mars simultaneously, even if the former would take preference.
“Historically, NASA managed multiple complex programs simultaneously – Mercury, Gemini and Apollo – in an era with far less technological capability than we possess today,” Isaacman said previously.
“More than six decades later, with the advances in industry and innovation, I believe the world’s premier space agency should be capable of executing multiple major initiatives at a time.”
Space Connect reported in December how ELO2 beat AROSE to be picked to create Australia’s lunar rover.
The winning consortium, co-led by EPE and Lunar Outpost Oceania, said work would begin “immediately” on creating the final design while the Australian Space Agency finalises launch details.
The federal government granted ELO2 and AROSE $4 million last year to design an initial prototype for a rover, later named Roo-ver, that will be developed to explore the moon’s surface.
ELO2 was widely tipped to win after being the first to unveil its model late last year and subsequently creating four working versions, two of which were showcased at this year’s Australian Space Summit.
The winning design will collect lunar regolith, or moon soil, that will eventually be turned into oxygen to support a permanent NASA base.
Regolith can both become oxygen that humans can breathe or aid the production of rocket fuel necessary to support the launch of a rocket from the moon to Mars and beyond.
Adam Thorn
Adam is a journalist who has worked for more than 40 prestigious media brands in the UK and Australia. Since 2005, his varied career has included stints as a reporter, copy editor, feature writer and editor for publications as diverse as Fleet Street newspaper The Sunday Times, fashion bible Jones, media and marketing website Mumbrella as well as lifestyle magazines such as GQ, Woman’s Weekly, Men’s Health and Loaded. He joined Momentum Media in early 2020 and currently writes for Australian Aviation and World of Aviation.
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