The billionaire entrepreneur is getting American astronauts closer to a moon landing than we’ve been in decades.
Jared Isaacman isn’t messing around. The billionaire entrepreneur and private astronaut endured White House intrigue and months-long delays on his way to becoming head of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration this past December. But now, less than three months into his tenure as administrator, he is bringing much-needed focus, transparency and above all urgency to the struggling space agency.
Over the decades, NASA has grown ponderous and complacent. The agency’s Artemis program, which aims to land astronauts on the moon within this decade, exemplifies the rot: It has already cost taxpayers nearly $100 billion, without sending a single astronaut into orbit, much less to the moon. Powerful Capitol Hill lawmakers allow such lax management, as long as it means more spending in their states. And while NASA lumbers, China’s space program surges ahead. That country could land its taikonauts on the moon before the U.S. makes its long-promised return.
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James B. Meigs is a senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute and a City Journal contributing editor.
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