Trump's pick for NASA chief tells Senate he's aiming for the Red Planet. 'We will prioritize sending American astronauts to Mars'

Donald Trump's pick for NASA chief shares the president's ambitious Mars goals.

In his inaugural address on Jan. 20, Trump said the U.S. "will pursue our manifest destiny into the stars, launching American astronauts to plant the stars and stripes on the planet Mars."

Jared Isaacman, the billionaire entrepreneur and private astronaut Trump has tapped to lead the agency, echoed those desires during his nomination hearing today (April 9) before the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation.

Isaacman, 42, laid out a series of objectives in his opening remarks today, topping the list with crewed spaceflight goals.

"First, American astronauts will lead the way in the ultimate 'high ground' of space. As the president stated, we will prioritize sending American astronauts to Mars," Isaacman said.

Related: Who is Jared Isaacman, Trump's pick for NASA chief?

The Red Planet has long been NASA's horizon destination, a place it aims to reach after establishing a presence on a world much closer to home: the moon. Via its Artemis program, the agency hopes to set up one or more bases near the water-rich lunar south pole by the end of the decade.

China is also targeting the moon, intending to land astronauts there by 2030. U.S. politicians and military officials, as well as other stakeholders in the space community, have stressed the importance of winning this so-called new space race, ensuring China doesn't get to establish norms of operation and exploration on Earth's nearest neighbor.

One of those politicians is Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), who chairs the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation. During today's hearing, Cruz warned against abandoning the Artemis stepping-stone approach in favor of a quicker, more direct route to the Red Planet.

"We must stay the course," Cruz said. "An extreme shift in priorities at this stage would almost certainly mean a red moon, ceding ground to China for generations to come. I am hard-pressed to think of a more catastrophic mistake we could make in space than saying to communist China: 'The moon is yours.'"

Isaacman replied that he would not let that happen, saying NASA can work toward accomplishing multiple goals at once.

"NASA is an extraordinary agency that can do the near-impossible," he said. "We can chart a course for Mars in line with the president's vision to return to the moon before the Chinese can get there and figure out the space economy and do the other things."

The Artemis program, as currently envisioned, relies on a giant rocket called the Space Launch System (SLS), a crew capsule called Orion and a planned moon-orbiting space station known as Gateway. According to the program's blueprints, Artemis astronauts will touch down on the moon in privately built landers — SpaceX's Starship and Blue Origin's Blue Moon, both of which are still in development.

Some aspects of this architecture have drawn criticism from politicians and space enthusiasts, as Artemis has been beset by multiple delays and cost overruns over the years.

During today's hearing, Isaacman said he doesn't intend to cancel Gateway or any other aspect of Artemis at the moment. But his endorsement of the agency's moon mission architecture wasn't exactly ringing.

"I believe it's the best and fastest way to get there," Isaacman said. "I don't think it's the long-term way to get to and from the moon and to Mars with great frequency. But this is the plan we have now, and we've got to get this crew around the moon and the follow-on crew to land on the moon."

That last sentence referred to NASA's Artemis 2 mission, which is set to launch four astronauts on a round-the-moon trip in 2026, and Artemis 3, a lunar touchdown effort scheduled to lift off in mid-2027.

Related: NASA's Artemis program: Everything you need to know

Isaacman is CEO and founder of the payment-processing company Shift4. He's also an accomplished private pilot and astronaut with two spaceflights under his belt: He financed and commanded the Inspiration4 and Polaris Dawn orbital missions, which flew in September 2021 and September 2024, respectively.

Both missions employed SpaceX hardware, so Isaacman has a relationship with the company's billionaire founder and CEO, Elon Musk. Musk is close with President Trump, serving as an adviser to the president and as the leader of the cost- and regulation-slashing "Department of Government Efficiency."

Sen. Ed Markey (D-Mass.) brought up those ties during today's hearing, asking whether Musk was present during Isaacman's meeting with then-President-elect Trump in Florida in late 2024. Isaacman declined to answer the question directly, instead repeating multiple times that he was being interviewed by Trump.

Markey also asked Isaacman if he has discussed his plans for NASA with Musk. That time, a direct answer was given: "I have not."

Markey and other senators will have some time to think about Isaacman's candidacy. The Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation isn't expected to hold a confirmation vote for him until April 28 at the earliest, according to CNN.