Keith’s note: AI is the hot thing now: bubble or no bubble. NASA and the space community just lost much of its workforce. The OSTP Genesis Mission which talks about a “moonshot” AI effort makes no mention of NASA. But NASA is going to the Moon. Will NASA enter uncharted territory with AI to backfill for lost capability? Or will it be left behind to do more – with less? Or will NASA’s incredible charter and stellar workforce be energized to figure out a better path – “as only NASA can”? THAT is the challenge before Jared Isaacman. May The Force Be With Him 🚀 (image created with @Grok)
It seems clear that Trump cares about only two things when it comes to NASA: 1) beating China to the next moon landing (and, maybe, to Mars) and 2) militarizing the agency and space in general. Now it also seems that Trump likes Isaacman and, as long as he emphasizes landing on the moon and the militarization of space, Trump might give him a bit more free reign in other areas since he doesn’t really give a damn about anything else space-related. Unfortunately, Trump’s minions are currently racing to destroy as much of NASA as they can (just like they did the NSF, CDC, etc) before Isaacman becomes the administrator. In other words, by the time Isaacman takes over a lot of irreparable damage will have been done.