What happened to the moon?
Mr. Trump did not mention the moon, even though the centerpiece for the space program during his first term was returning astronauts to the moon as part of NASA’s Artemis program. There are already signs that the new administration is planning major changes to Artemis.
One hint involves who is running NASA right now.
During a change of presidential administrations, NASA’s top political appointees typically resign, and a career official, the associate administrator, fills in until a new administrator is confirmed by the Senate. Mr. Trump has nominated Jared Isaacman, a billionaire who has flown two private astronaut missions on SpaceX rockets and who is a close associate of Mr. Musk.
On Monday, Mr. Trump said that Janet Petro, the director of NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, would serve as acting administrator. In doing that, he bypassed James Free, the third-highest official at NASA.
-Mr. Free has been a defender of the current Artemis program.
“Jim Free made it clear that Artemis was perfect and didn’t need to be changed,” said James Muncy, a Republican space policy consultant who was not involved with the NASA transition for Mr. Trump. “Which is disqualifying to a president that wants to change things.”
Crucial parts of the current Artemis program include the Space Launch System, a powerful but expensive NASA rocket, and the Orion capsule where the astronauts would travel between the Earth and the moon.
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