Trump's pick to lead NASA says U.S. must lead space race, race with China intensifies

A tech billionaire who bought a series of spaceflights from Elon Musk's SpaceX and conducted the first private spacewalk was nominated by President-elect Donald Trump on Wednesday to lead NASA.

Jared Isaacman, 41, CEO and founder of a card-processing company, has been a close collaborator with Musk ever since buying his first chartered flight with SpaceX. He took along contest winners on that 2021 trip and followed it in September with a mission where he briefly popped out the hatch to test SpaceX's new spacewalking suits.

If confirmed, Isaacman will replace Bill Nelson, 82, a former Democratic senator from Florida who was nominated by President Joe Biden. Nelson flew aboard space shuttle Columbia in 1986 – on the flight right before the Challenger disaster — while a congressman.

Stay up to date with our digital and social media content:

Call our newsroom: 406-721-5642

NBC Montana is a MT based station and a NBC Television affiliate owned and operated by Sinclair Broadcast Group. Sinclair Broadcast Group, Inc. is one of the largest and most diversified television broadcasting companies in the country today. Sinclair owns and operates, programs, or provides sales services to 163 television stations in 77 markets, after pending transactions.

#montana #montanamoment #nbcmontana #mtwx #news

[j.m.]

Someone has not read the Rocket Lab Mars Sample Return proposal abstract from NASA pages because according to the timeline proposed and China Tianwen-3 mission info, NASA would be able to match the speed of China if it lets Rocket Lab implement its plan as the winning proposal.