NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman discusses the financial scale of US investment in returning to the Moon and the strategic necessity of seeing the effort through.
Prediction Open · timeframe May 2031
Isaacman: NASA astronauts will build President Trump's moon base
“When we return to the moon, America will not look down on the prime lunar real estate while our rivals occupy it. NASA astronauts will be on the surface, building President Trump's moon base, and we will realize the scientific, economic, and national security …”
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Isaacman: China's moon schedule is potentially within a year of NASA's
“Regardless if we had a rival that is, again, within potentially a year of our schedule on this, it is still, the changes we announced last week is still in the correct direction.”
Prediction Open · timeframe Jan 2029
Isaacman: NASA will return to Moon before end of Trump's term
“NASA has stated we will achieve the national imperative to return, ah, to the moon and establish an enduring presence before the end of President Trump's term.”
Prediction Open · timeframe May 2031
Isaacman: NASA will launch moon rockets every few months, not years
“We are gonna get back into the habit of launching moon rockets in months, not years.”
Prediction Held up
Isaacman: NASA targeting new SLS mission in 2027 and lunar landings in 2028
“We are standardizing the SLS rocket, increasing launch cadence from years to months. We're inserting a new mission in 20, 27 to buy down risk and increase confidence for lunar landing attempts in 20, 28.”
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Isaacman: NASA loses $1.4B annually to staffing contractor markups
“About 1.4 billion a year is lost in science and discovery. Because someone, 30 years ago or so, said there's these artificial hiring ceilings on civil servants, so 75% of the workforce became contractors.”