Utopia Talk / Politics / Trump picks new head of NASA

murder Member	Wed Dec 04 15:11:56 Billionaire who performed the first private spacewalk is Trump’s pick to lead NASA CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — 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 credit 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 flight 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. Isaacman said he was honored to be nominated and would be “grateful to serve.” “Having been fortunate to see our amazing planet from space, I am passionate about America leading the most incredible adventure in human history,” he said via X. During Nelson’s tenure, NASA picked up steam in its effort to return astronauts to the moon. This next-generation Apollo program — named after Apollo’s mythological twin sister Artemis — plans to send four astronauts around the moon as soon as next year. The first moon landing in more than half a century would follow. NASA is counting on SpaceX to get astronauts to the lunar surface via Starship, the mega rocket launching out of Texas on test flights. The space agency already relies on SpaceX to fly astronauts to and from the International Space Station along with supply runs. Boeing launched its first crew for NASA in June, but the Starliner capsule encountered so many problems that the two test pilots ended up stuck at the space station. They’ll catch a ride home with SpaceX in February, after more than eight months in orbit. Their mission should have lasted eight days. Also on NASA’s plate right now: exploring the solar system. Robotic missions to the moon and beyond continues with a NASA spacecraft en route to Jupiter’s watery moon Europa and the Mars rover Perseverance collecting more rock and dirt samples. Facing tight budgets, NASA is seeking a quicker, cheaper way of getting these Martian samples to Earth than the original plan, which had swollen to $11 billion with nothing arriving before 2040. As with human spaceflight, NASA has turned to industry and others for ideas and help. Musk congratulated Isaacman via X, describing him as a man of “high ability and integrity.” The fighter jet-piloting Isaacman, whose call name is Rook, short for rookie, has described himself as a “space geek” since kindergarten. He dropped out of high school when he was 16, got a GED certificate and started a business in his parents’ basement that became the genesis for Shift4. His business is based in eastern Pennsylvania, where he lives with his wife and their two young daughters. He set a speed record flying around the world in 2009 while raising money for the Make-A-Wish program, and later established Draken International, the world’s largest private fleet of fighter jets. Isaacman has reserved two more flights with SpaceX, including a trip leading Starship’s first crew into orbit around Earth. http://apn...4662fac78ed7cecc25e4cdfb6ae46e
murder Member	Wed Dec 04 15:12:26 Yes, another billionaire.
TheChildren Member	Wed Dec 04 16:00:34 not just a billionaire, but a billionaire from da same crooky club of ol white men, da boyz network...each workin 2 enhance and enrich themselves and da same club of rich men how u feel 2 know u live in such a crooked country
Paramount Member	Wed Dec 04 16:15:23 And Jewish of course.
Sam Adams Member	Wed Dec 04 16:25:20 A rich successful space geek whos gone into space and is friends with the massively successful space company? What a terrible fucking pick!
murder Member	Wed Dec 04 16:32:44 "A rich successful space geek whos gone into space and is friends with the massively successful space company?" Crony capitalism for the win!
Rugian Member	Wed Dec 04 17:12:50 "Isaacman was born on February 11, 1983, at Overlook Hospital in Summit, New Jersey, to Donald and Sandra Marie Isaacman. He is the youngest of four children. His siblings include brothers Marc, Michael, and sister Tiffany. Isaacman and his family lived in Union Township, Union County, New Jersey, before moving to Westfield, New Jersey,[11] sometime around April 1987. He attended Wilson Elementary School in Westfield, from kindergarten through sixth grade.[12] The family moved to the Liberty Corner section of Bernards Township, New Jersey, when Isaacman was 12, where he attended William Annin Middle School. As a ninth grader and a freshman at Ridge High School, Isaacman discovered that he and his best friend, Brendan Lauber, had a knack for fixing computers.[13] He attended Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, Worldwide Campus,[14] where he graduated with a bachelor's degree in Professional Aeronautics.[15] In 1999, Isaacman founded a retail payment processing company named United Bank Card, which was later renamed Harbortouch, a point-of-sale payment company based in Pennsylvania. He was the founding CEO, and retained that role in 2015 with the company having "been profitable for over a decade [while processing] US$11 billion a year from 60,000 merchants, generating US$300 million in revenues."[16] By 2020, the company had been renamed Shift4 Payments, Isaacman remained CEO, and the company was processing US$200 billion in payments annually.[6] In 2012, he co-founded Draken International, a Florida-based company that trains pilots for the United States Armed Forces. The company operates one of the world's largest fleets of privately owned fighter jets.[16][17]" http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jared_Isaacman Any other person would think well of this guy's life and how he made something of himself through his work and innovative spirit. But according to murder: "cRoNy cApItAlIsT" Stop being so bitter at everyone who prospers in America murder.
murder Member	Wed Dec 04 17:22:45 Oh yeah ... I see the qualifications now.
Rugian Member	Wed Dec 04 17:25:25 I left out his entire aeronautical career. ---- He is flight-qualified in multiple military jet aircraft.[6] Isaacman has performed in airshows with his Black Diamond Jet Team that he co-founded in 2010.[17][18] In 2008, he made a first attempt to set a new world record for circumnavigating the globe in a light jet, falling short by traveling around the world in 83 hours, just beyond the existing record of 82 hours. The record attempt was a fundraising event for Make-A-Wish Foundation.[19] In April 2009, on his second attempt, he set a world record for circumnavigating the globe in a light jet, making the flight in 61:51:15, about 20 hours faster than the previous record of 82 hours. The world record attempt was made as a fundraising event for Make-A-Wish Foundation of New Jersey.[16][20] He flew a Cessna Citation CJ2 with two other crew members, skipping stops in India and Japan, where he encountered hours-long ground delays in his previous attempt in 2008.[19] In February 2021, Isaacman announced that he would serve as commander of Inspiration4, the first private human spaceflight in which none of the people aboard were from a government agency.[21] The mission was operated by SpaceX, on board an autonomous Crew Dragon spacecraft launched by a Falcon 9 launch vehicle.[21][22] Isaacman received the call sign "Rook" during flight training.[23] In August 2021, the crew of Inspiration4, including Isaacman, was featured on the cover of a Time magazine double issue.[24] On September 15, 2021 (UTC), Inspiration4 launched and achieved orbit. The mission splashed down 3 days later.[25][26] During the Inspiration4 mission, Isaacman made the first-known sports bet from space, placing two bets on NFL football with the BetMGM Sportsbook, while over Las Vegas.[27] In September 2024, Isaacman commanded the Polaris Dawn mission, which is part of a crewed spaceflight program called the Polaris program.[24] The crew consisted of Isaacman, Kidd (Scott) Poteet, Sarah Gillis and Anna Menon. who rose to a record-breaking apogee of 1,400 km (870 mi) and later lower to a 700 km (430 mi) apogee. The crew completed a multi-hour EVA on September 12, 2024, with all crew exposed to the vacuum of space, although Isaacman and Sarah Gillis were the only two that exited the spacecraft.[28] Over the five-day flight, the crew performed about 40 different science experiments and provided more insight into life in space.[29] The crew also completed the first crewed demonstration of Starlink laser communication in space.[27]
Rugian Member	Wed Dec 04 17:26:49 So we have a guy that a) has extensive experience with space, and b) has extensive experience with managing a large organization. murder: i dOn'T SeE HiS QuAlIfIcAtIoNs
murder Member	Wed Dec 04 17:27:09 If Trump was going to hire a billionaire to take over NASA ... maybe his billionaire buddy who actually has experience operating a space program?
murder Member	Wed Dec 04 17:27:58 "So we have a guy that a) has extensive experience with space, and b) has extensive experience with managing a large organization." Extensive experience with space? Where?
Rugian Member	Wed Dec 04 17:30:56 You're right...commanding a fucking space mission is no big deal.
murder Member	Wed Dec 04 17:30:57 "on board an autonomous Crew Dragon spacecraft" ...
murder Member	Wed Dec 04 17:31:36 autonomous
Sam Adams Member	Wed Dec 04 17:31:40 It seems like issacman is a fairly high placed space luitenant of musk, and has considerably more flight experience vs less but still good business experience. Making either the head of nasa is a very good pick.
murder Member	Wed Dec 04 17:33:28 It probably won't matter. He's probably just a puppet anyway.
Sam Adams Member	Wed Dec 04 17:33:50 Like this is 100% obviously a good choice and you cannot reasonably complain.
murder Member	Wed Dec 04 17:36:03 NASA is redundant. Maybe they'll just put it down and privatize the space program.
Sam Adams Member	Wed Dec 04 21:32:00 Might as well. Spacex is well ahead right now.
	show deleted posts

Your Name:
Your Password:
Your Message: