Space isn't going to remain the ‘exclusive domain’ of world governments anymore: Jared Isaacman
Billionaire Jared Isaacman, the first civilian to walk in space, tells 'Your World' about his historic trip.
President Donald Trump’s nominee for NASA administrator, billionaire space-junkie Jared Isaacman, will face questions at Wednesday’s confirmation hearing in front of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation.
Fox News Digital exclusively obtained a list of civilian astronauts that will be joining Isaacman at the hearing, some of whom previously traveled on missions to outer space with the 42-year-old entrepreneur.
Scott "Kidd" Poteet, a retired U.S. Air Force lieutenant colonel and former Thunderbird pilot, will be one of the astronauts attending in support of the Trump nominee. On the recent September Polaris Dawn spacewalk, Poteet acted as mission pilot and had worked with Isaacman on previous spaceflight efforts.
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Isaacman's all-civilian Inspiration4 mission raised $250 million for St. Jude Children's Research Hospital. (Patrick T. Fallon/AFP via Getty Images)
Sarah Gillis, a lead space operations engineer at SpaceX and one of the first female mission controllers at the company, and Anna Menon, a biomedical engineer and lead space operations engineer at SpaceX, both worked with Isaacman on the Polaris Dawn mission and will be attending the hearing in his support.
The nominee will also be joined by former colleagues behind the historic 2021 Inspiration4 mission – the first civilian-led spaceflight to orbit Earth. Dr. Sian Proctor, a geoscientist and analog astronaut who served as mission pilot, Chris Sembroski, an aerospace data engineer and U.S. Air Force veteran who served as mission specialist, and Hayley Arceneaux, a physician assistant at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital and a pediatric cancer survivor who became the youngest American to orbit Earth at 29.
Sembroski was gifted the seat in a raffle by St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital during a fundraising campaign for the mission, which raised $250 million for the cancer center in addition to Isaacman’s personal $125 million donation.
Isaacman will be introduced to the committee by Sen. Tim Sheehy, R-Mont., who told Fox News Digial ahead of Wednesday’s hearing that "for nearly 70 years, the United States has been at the forefront of space exploration. President Trump knows how critical it is to reinvigorate NASA so we can once again lead the world to new heights, and that’s why he chose exactly the right man for the job: Jared Isaacman."
"A successful innovator, entrepreneur, pilot, and astronaut, Jared believes in NASA’s core mission," the Montana senator told Fox. "He has the experience and skillset to ensure we continue to lead in the greatest frontier ever known, and I look forward to adding NASA administrator to his already remarkable resume."
Workers pressure-wash the logo of NASA on the Vehicle Assembly Building at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida, on May 19, 2020. (Reuters/Joe Skipper/File Photo)
Additional senators have already spoken out ahead of the hearing, including Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, who posted on X Monday, saying, "During our meeting, Mr. Isaacman committed to having American astronauts return to the lunar surface ASAP so we can develop the technologies needed to go on to Mars."
"The moon mission MUST happen in President Trump's term or else China will beat us there and build the first moonbase," Cruz continued. "Artemis and the Moon-to-Mars Program are critical for American leadership in space!"
Fox News Digital also obtained Isaacman's opening remarks for the nomination hearing, where he intends to highlight the importance of multi-planet travel and his plan to "prioritize sending American astronauts to Mars. Along the way, we will inevitably have the capabilities to return to the Moon and determine the scientific, economic, and 3 national security benefits of maintaining a presence on the lunar surface."
The Trump nominee's remarks also touch on the value NASA brings to the U.S. "not just to expand our knowledge or strengthen our national security, but to improve all life on Earth and inspire the next generation to reach even further."
"This is why America needs NASA – why the world needs NASA – because there is no more important investment than inspiring our children to build a better, more exciting future. And the best way NASA can do that is by delivering on our mission and ushering in a new Golden Age of Science & Discovery – and we will not fail."
This handout photo provided by SpaceX and Polaris on Sept. 15, 2024 shows Jared Isaacman stepping out of the manned Polaris Dawn mission's "Dragon" capsule after it splashed down off the coast of Dry Tortugas, Florida.? (Polaris Program/AFP via Getty Images)
Isaacman may face questions about recent reports that SpaceX founder and DOGE head Elon Musk intends to "take over" the space administration, and congressional Democrats have also been critical of Musk’s involvement in space travel. Rep. Maxwell Alejandro Frost, D-Fla., and Rep. Gerry Connolly, D-Va., sent a letter to NASA chief legal officer Iris Lan in an attempt to snuff out any association between the world’s richest man and U.S. space funding.
But a senior official at NASA headquarters in Washington, D.C. told Fox News Digital Tuesday, "NASA's acting administrator, Janet Patro, is leading the agency under the Trump administration. Neither Elon Musk nor SpaceX holds any influence over the agency's priorities."
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Isaacman amassed his $1.3 billion fortune as founder and CEO of Shift4 payments, a credit card payment processing company. The entrepreneur dropped out of high school at just 16 after working at a payment processing firm, and would eventually use a $10,000 check from his grandfather to build a tech empire.
In comparison to the previous NASA administrator, former astronaut and U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson, some critics have referred to Isaacman as an outsider.
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Fox News Digital spoke with NASA spokesperson Bethany Stevens in March, who pushed back, saying, "President Trump was also once considered an outsider, and the American people have put him back into office, just showing how much they appreciate the business side that he brings to the table. And Mr. Isaacman also has a background as an entrepreneur of an extremely successful business."
Preston Mizell is a writer with Fox News Digital covering breaking news. Danielle Wallace is a breaking news and politics reporter at Fox News Digital. Story tips can be sent to danielle.wallace@fox.com and on X: @danimwallace.
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