Isaacman Urges Quick Confirmation as NASA Head

Billionaire entrepreneur and private astronaut Jared Isaacman urged U.S. senators on Wednesday to expedite his confirmation as NASA's next administrator, highlighting the agency's need for stable leadership amid preparations for a return to the moon. Isaacman, 42, appeared before the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation in Washington for a second confirmation hearing, eight months after his initial appearance. His nomination by President Donald Trump was withdrawn in the spring before being reissued last month, leaving Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy as acting administrator since summer.

Isaacman, founder of the payment processing company Shift4, has flown to orbit twice on SpaceX rockets, including a mission last fall that featured the world's first private spacewalk, which he personally funded. During the hearing, he stressed the urgency of NASA's Artemis program, which aims to send four astronauts on a lunar flyaround mission early next year, marking the first U.S. crewed trip toward the moon in more than 50 years. A landing would follow in a subsequent mission, with the broader objective of establishing a sustained presence on the lunar surface by...