Senate Confirms Billionaire Entrepreneur Jared Isaacman As New NASA Chief (politico.com) 69
Longtime Slashdot reader schwit1 shares a report from Politico: The Senate on Wednesday approved Jared Isaacman for the top job at NASA -- an unprecedented comeback after President Donald Trump yanked his nomination this spring. Senators confirmed the billionaire private astronaut in a 67-30 vote. Trump renominated Isaacman for NASA administrator in November, after pulling his original nomination in May. He cited Isaacman's relationship with SpaceX CEO Elon Musk, with whom Trump had just had a falling out, as the rationale for his decision. Isaacman's surprise rebound followed months of political jockeying and help from high-profile figures in Trump's orbit. [...] Isaacman garnered backing from lawmakers during his hearing by confirming his support for NASA's Artemis moon-landing mission, a key prerogative for Capitol Hill. He also committed to instilling urgency at the space agency, citing China's space ambitions.
The checks cleared (Score:5, Informative)
Between May 31 and Nov. 4, Isaacman made two $1 million donations to MAGA Inc., a political action committee supporting Trump, as well as more than $175,000 in contributions to the Republican National Committee.
https://spacenews.com/senate-c... [spacenews.com]
Re:The checks cleared (Score:5, Insightful)
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Found the incel.
Re: The checks cleared (Score:4, Insightful)
So strange to see you worrying about "children", but embrace a dumb AR and thoroughly corrupt member of a real pedophile ring as your leader.
Re: The checks cleared (Score:5, Informative)
No, even the White House chief of staff has confirmed Clinton's not done anything worth mentioning. And to be honest, how is it the entire Republican machine spent 8 years running a smear campaign against him, and then another 15 against his wife, making up all sorts of allegations up to and including murder, and somehow missed him diddling kids and it not even being a secret because dozens of other major figures and multimillionaires would have seen him do it?
Answer: they didn't because it didn't happen.
While Trump has been credibly accused of raping underage women, has bragged publicly about viewing naked underage women, and had been adjudicated a dictionary-definition rapist.
So no, nobody's talking here about Clinton you rape apologist asshole.
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making up all sorts of allegations up to and including murder
Vince Foster would beg to disagree... if he were able. I saw the headlines at the time. Dude had committed suicide by shooting himself in the head more than once from the top down.
Yeah, yeah, I know, there is no information stating such anymore. The Memory Hole is alive and well.
I am betting that none of you remember what Bin Laden said in August of 1998 either. I saw it in a printed newspaper. He said something very similar to: I may not have 5 million dollar cruise missiles, but I can use your planes as m
Re: The checks cleared (Score:3)
whataboutism doesn't really work for the twice impeached rapy orange-faced felon, sorry.
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Yeah, like it was said already, your idol is:
- twice impeached
- a convicted felon
- an associate of known pedophile
- rapist
- child molester
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Now, stop that! Truth is an insult around here!
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Posts on Truf Soshal aren't truth, dear.
Re: The checks cleared (Score:2)
I wouldn't know. I genuinely do not read Truth Social. I just don't. I also don't read Threads. It turns out I'm not a mind-numbed robot after all. But most everybody on /. can only deal with two alternatives. They don't have room for four or five.
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It turns out I'm not a mind-numbed robot after all.
Yes, of course, you do your own research and peer-review it with the orderlies after they bring you breakfast.
Re: The checks cleared (Score:2)
Oh yeah, those ad hominem insults settle the issue. You've won.
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I was just laughing at a dumb joke, buddy, no "ad hominems" involved. Jokes that are so dumb that they're kinda funny are my favorite.
Re: The checks cleared (Score:2)
Oh, I got it. You're not even going to shut up and let it lay there.
I cook my own breakfast. Not in a facility. So wiggle your way out of it, but you're a typical Lefty, not disrespectful, but dismissive, superior, and unassailable.
You might be all that, but cheap shots don't look good on you. So blame me for not getting the joke. Yoi weren't trying to be funny, you were just being you.
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You're the joke, buddy, that's why you don't get it.
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All while debating what a "woman" is.
8AM EST and republicans are already talking about trans people. I could have gone the entire day without thinking about that.
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"women" are "trans"?
Wow, I had not worked that grand generalization. Thanks for that.
Also play politics (Score:5, Insightful)
So they have to give their voters something. Some reason to keep voting for them even as the economy collapses.
Anti-science and anti-vaxx are the solutions they came up with. You might not have a job or a home but nobody's going to tell you how to raise your kids and nobody's going to make you get the fauci ouchie.
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It's basically trickle down economics combined with corruption.
Trickle down economics, whether it is combined with corruption or not, has always been trickle up economics and the corruption just makes sure the trickle turns into a stream.
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Except lots of people believe in trickle down economics even to their detriment. Mostly because at a surface level, it makes sense. But like all economics, its basically voodoo thanks to lots of externalities.
But you can easily make the case of "If we the rich do well, you the rest will do well too".
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" nobody's going to tell you how to raise your kids"
Well, at least you're honest. If you are not permitted to raise your own children i n the manner you wish, well, you've been denied a right and purpose granted and recognized from time immemorial.
Take it all away, eh? I expected nothing less from you. We will rest easy with people we do not know make all decisions for us. And their track record is spotless.
It is covered in blood. Not spots. Floods.
Get your goddamn vaccines (Score:2)
I am tired of right-wing douche nozzles raising these little disease breeders full of wrong information and bigotry because that's how grandpappy raised them.
You have a right to impart your culture and values up to the point where you are just wrong.
Objective reality exists whether you like it or not. Measles is real. Ivermectin doesn't treat covid. America is not a Christian Nation
Re: Get your goddamn vaccines (Score:2)
Why would your think I would not vaccinate my children against measles? Are you so blinded by hate that you don't even bother to ask? Yes, you are.
Having suffered the mRNA vaccine I'm no longer blindly trusting Moderna for one.
And, while we're at it, you're proposing that your judgment be substituted for the parent's. You have objective proof that yours is more correct of course. But at least you believe it's objective proof. So you sleep at night just fine, and many a parent will sleep at night just fine,
The NASA Admin's job is that of a salesman ... (Score:1)
MAGa's are screwing up 60+ years of good work in Science and Technology ...
Nope. The NASA Admin's job is that of a salesman. To sell NASA and its agenda and its budget to the President, to Congress, and to the American people.
... It is surreal to me.
It's more likely selective memory. A NASA admin being a political appointee and selected primarily on the political metric is hardly anything new. Even if a former engineer.
Re:The NASA Admin's job is that of a salesman ... (Score:5, Insightful)
Re: The NASA Admin's job is that of a salesman ... (Score:3)
Re: The NASA Admin's job is that of a salesman ... (Score:4, Interesting)
The reason why the US president needs so much power is actually not because the congress doesn't work but because the president is both the head of state and the head of the government. Basically, they need a prime minister to be able to remove power from the president.
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I know, it's hilarious.
Gibbon's decline and fall of the Roman Empire spanned six volumes. The united states are crumbling in realtime.
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screwing up 60+ years of good work
The good work of getting moon base established and preparations for manned mission to mars, unmanned probes to outer solar system, propulsion research into nuclear-powered drives, etc., etc. /sarcasm
In case of NASA, there is nothing left to screw up. I am all for strong space program, but NASA isn't doing much other than diverting money away from Space X to failed projects.
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MAGa's are screwing up 60+ years of good work in Science and Technology in order to just screw around like little children and collect money. It is surreal to me.
They're doing that to every facet of society, from governing to education, why would science & technology be exempt?
Hurry! Because..China? (Score:3)
..confirming his support for NASA's Artemis moon-landing mission, a key prerogative for Capitol Hill. He also committed to instilling urgency at the space agency, citing China's space ambitions.
Uh, just curious. What is the urgency prioritizing the moon-landing?
Urgency, will likely translate into urgently requesting a 20x increase in the budget by next year, because We need it now! China! Hurry! Get to Da Moon Base Choppa All Belongs to Us! Aaaauungh!
It's a pretty big moon. Lotsa space. Serious question; between China and the US, does it truly matter who gets (back) there first? Absolutely critical turf?
Re:Hurry! Because..China? (Score:5, Interesting)
It's a pretty big moon, but you likely want to go after the poles (especially the lunar south pole), because that's where the water is. Not only can you make beer out of it, but you can also turn it into rocket fuel.
So you get there first, put down a manned base with a big ol' fence around it, and claim it's yours.
And then it's just wash-rinse-repeat. You get into another arms race, the military-industrial complex will need to be fed, and the billionaire circlejerk keeps going.
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Let's be honest, it's an ideological dick measuring contest. If capitalism doesn't get there first, people might get the wrong idea.
NASA won't go for the poles. It will be boots on the ground ASAP, nothing fancy.
At the moment it's looking 50/50 who gets there first.
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Boots on the ground already happened about 55 years ago, there is zero point in a moon mission to merely put boots on the ground.
As an aside, this documovie is awesome and everyone here should find the time to watch it at some point: you can get it on various streaming platforms, and it's also available on Blu-ray: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/... [wikipedia.org]
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NASA won't go for the poles. It will be boots on the ground ASAP, nothing fancy.
As if the justification to spend billions, couldn't get any more lame.
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China might go for the poles. Maybe depends how the US gets on, if they think they can get there first with an easier mission. They have landed a robotic probe there already, so have some experience that the US lacks, but it's a more difficult landing.
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The US can't let China have a moment.
What's important is what you do when you get there. The US raced to the moon the first time then just quit. China, at least as far as they've announced, seems to be planning to go and actually do some stuff like set up a long term research base. The US was also planning to do some interesting long term stuff but has cancelled most of that in the interest of beating China.
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The US can't let China have a moment.
No, its letting them having all the easily accessible water. Everyone planning on a long term presence needs to plant a base near some ice.
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If the Chinese manage to set up enough bases to claim and defend all the water on the moon before anybody else can get there either a) there's not enough to be bothered about or b) they deserve it.
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The US can't let China have a moment.
What's important is what you do when you get there. The US raced to the moon the first time then just quit. China, at least as far as they've announced, seems to be planning to go and actually do some stuff like set up a long term research base. The US was also planning to do some interesting long term stuff but has cancelled most of that in the interest of beating China.
NASA will look like the child who pushed everyone else out of the way to get to the sandbox first, and then turns around and realizes it brought nothing to play with. And has to leave anyway.
Pointless, is pointless.
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No, NASA will look like the child who did that, then did it again.
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The way they will increase urgency is by screaming about going to the moon.
Not by increasing the budget. Or letting the people actually doing the work and knowing what needs to be done to lead the project. Politics means clueless people will normally end up demanding crap that makes things harder/more expensive (SLS anyone?).
Am sure it will work out well for them.
So what happened with Boeing (Score:3, Insightful)
When Boeing hired a business guy instead of someone with a technical background that went great yeah?
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I mean the suits got rich and that pesky 737 Max lawsuit was dismissed. That's all that matters.
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I mean the suits got rich and that pesky 737 Max lawsuit was dismissed. That's all that matters.
And we really wonder how Luigi Mangione ended up with fans and admirers..
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The best Boeing CEO was a lawyers. One of the worst was an aerospace engineer. Seriously, thinking that only engineers can be the best executives is delusional.
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He clearly wanted the job. He's a space enthusiast. Even if he has to work within a restrictive political framework he's going to bring science and motivation to getting mankind into space in a big way.
Are you talking about Von Braun or Isaacman?
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If he's concerned with pork barrelling and working with Congress and also getting more funding he's absolutely working with the wrong party and admin. Maybe the Trump admin is more in space funding favor of it but they are also bad at all of the above and won't be able to corral Congress, negotiate with Democrats and make effective legislation (all things Biden was able to do) and also not graft on top of it.
From what I've read I think he has good intentions but the deal he had to cut to get what he wanted
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I've actually heard Isaacman is considered a "not terrible" choice within NASA itself. Phil Plait sounded fairly surprised and cautiously optimistic when writing about him earlier this year: https://badastronomy.beehiiv.c... [beehiiv.com]
His nomination originally was apparently derailed because Musk supported him, and Trump finally got tired of Musk. So it wasn't due to merit. And much as I think Musk is awful, I don't see Musk supporting someone to be head of NASA as a disqualification, it seems to be the one agency Mus
Calm down (Score:4, Informative)