US Senate confirms private astronaut, Musk ally Jared Isaacman as NASA chief

WASHINGTON, Dec 17 (Reuters) – The U.S. Senate on Wednesday confirmed billionaire private astronaut Jared Isaacman to become President Donald Trump’s NASA administrator, making an advocate of Mars missions and a former associate of SpaceX CEO Elon Musk the space agency’s 15th leader.

The vote on Isaacman, who Trump removed and then renamed as NASA administrator nominee this year, passed 67-30, two weeks after he told senators in his second hearing that NASA must pick up the pace in beating China back to the moon this decade.

Acting NASA chief Sean Duffy, who also leads the U.S. Transportation Department, congratulated Isaacman on X, wishing Isaacman “success as he begins his tenure and leads NASA as we go back to the Moon in 2028 and beat China.”

(Reporting by Joey Roulette, Editing by Franklin Paul, Rod Nickel)