Jared Isaacman told a Senate hearing that the US should simultaneously pursue missions to the moon and Mars, amid speculation the Trump administration could effectively cancel Artemis to focus on the Red Planet.
“We don’t have to make a binary decision of moon versus Mars, or moon has to come first versus Mars,” he said. “We could be paralleling these efforts and doing the near-impossible.”
It comes after SpaceX founder and Trump adviser Elon Musk earlier said the Artemis plan was “extremely inefficient”, given his company has made significant progress with testing Starship, which Musk believes could take humans directly to Mars without external help.
Isaacman is President Donald Trump’s pick to run NASA but won’t be confirmed in the position until after the Senate reconvenes from a two-week break that ends 28 April.
“I absolutely want to see us return to the moon,” he said. “As I mentioned in my prepared remarks, determine the economic, scientific, and national security value while we are also proceeding towards Mars.
“I don’t think we have to make any tough trades here, Senator. I think if we can concentrate our resources at the world’s greatest space agency, we don’t have to make a binary decision of moon versus Mars or moon has to come first versus Mars.”
Isaacman also surprisingly committed to the major elements of Artemis, including Boeing’s controversial Space Launch System, Lockheed’s Orion spacecraft, and lunar Gateway.
PROMOTED CONTENT
“This is the current plan. I do believe it is the best and fastest way to get there,” he told Senator Jerry Moran (R-Kan.) “I don’t think it’s the long-term way to get to and from the moon and Mars with great frequency, but this is the plan we have now.”
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.
Receive the latest developments and updates on Australia’s space industry direct to your inbox. Subscribe today to Space Connect here.
