NASA administrator nominee Jared Isaacman has vowed to prioritize a lunar landing over Elon Musk’s push for a crewed mission to Mars, siding with lawmakers who want a return to the moon. In a hearing on Wednesday, Isaacman stated he wants Americans walking on the moon, saying “I don’t think we have to make any tough trades” between a moon and Mars mission.
Isaacman’s comments appeared to contradict his opening statement, which supported a crewed Mars mission, but made no explicit promise to land on the moon. However, he committed to maintaining NASA’s Artemis mission through its next voyage in 2026. Musk has called the agency’s moon focus a “distraction” and promoted a Mars mission.
Isaacman said he would not be influenced by Musk when making policy decisions, but Sen. Maria Cantwell expressed unsatisfaction with his vagueness on critical issues such as launch methods, redundancy, space centers, and contracting.
Source: https://www.politico.com/news/2025/04/09/isaacman-heaing-moon-mars-musk-00007464