Congratulations to Jared Isaacman as NASA Administrator

Congratulations, Jared Isaacman for winning an overwhelming and bipartisan vote to become the new NASA Administrator. 

Thank you for focusing on landing Americans back on the Moon before China can land and make a territorial claim. We must maintain a U.S. national presence in orbit, return to the Moon--this time to stay and pioneer a permanent NASA-international partner-commercial base that will be the seed for massive science, industrialization, commercialization--and tourism. 

In parallel, we'll send Americans and our partners to Mars. A Mars base and eventually permanent colony will forever expand humanity's reach.

Here's a key point. Our national presence protects access for the free world and and for commercial space. We dare not let China control or deny access as they do in the South China Sea.

In your testimony to the Senate, you were absolutely correct: "This is not the time for delay but a time for action because if we fall behind — if we make a mistake — we may never catch up, and the consequences could shift the balance of power here on Earth."

As you'll know, Ye Peijian, the head of the Chinese Lunar Exploration Program declared: “The universe is like the ocean, the moon is like the Diaoyu Islands and Mars is like Huangyan Island.” Diaoyu is the CCP's name for Japan’s sovereign Senkaku Islands, and Huangyan is actually Scarborough Shoal which belongs to the Philippines. That is a poetic shot across the bow we must not ignore.

Time is short--shorter than China wishes us to believe. They have an unlimited budget, plundered technologies, and an imperative to beat us to the Moon. They could land on the Moon at early as 2017 or early 2018 if all goes well. Their propaganda timelines are spread out, yet their known progress indicates much a much sooner date. 

Our pioneering exploration, continuing since Alan Shepard in 1961, enables and preserves the democratization of space, and extends to the Moon, Mars and beyond. In peace. For all mankind. Just as we promised on the plaque we left on the Moon.

Godspeed, Administrator Isaacman. Americans support a bold space program of exploration, and your efforts will inspire our youth and everyone to a greater future. 

Call Senate: Confirm Jared Isaacman as NASA Administrator

Following the successful hearing in the Senate on December 3, the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation will hold a vote on Monday, December 8 to advance the nomination of Jared Isaacman for NASA Administrator to the Senate floor. Once approved in committee, the nomination will be sent to the full Senate for a final vote.

Take action:

• Please call the Senators who serve on the committee at 202-224-3121. LIST Ask for their vote
• Then call your own Senators in favor of confirming Isaacman in the floor vote. LIST

It's essential that NASA has an official Administrator as we prepare to send astronauts to orbit the Moon on Artemis II in February, and then Artemis III must beat China to land on the Moon, ideally in late 2027 or early 2028.

You may hear "China will land in 2030, etc. That's deceptive tactics to make us believe there's no hurry. The truth is the Chinese have an unlimited budget, a militaristic drive to beat us and make territorial claims as in the South China Sea, and their progress in building and testing the hardware is advancing rapidly.

Mr. Isaacman understands the imperative. In his testimony, he stated:

I know it is not lost on anyone in this room that we are in a great competition with a rival [China] that has the will and means to challenge American exceptionalism across multiple domains, including in the high ground of space. This is not the time for delay, but for action, because if we fall behind--if we make a mistake--we may never catch up, and the consequences could shift the balance of power here on Earth.

Let's get Isaacman on the job and go full speed back to the Moon and on to Mars.

Apollo 11 56th Anniversary! Mission Day One

Imagine this: It is July 16, 1969, and hundreds of thousands of people camped out near the Kennedy Space Center overnight waiting for the launch of Apollo 11. 

Hundreds of millions more around the world are glued to their TVs and radios, awaiting the magical moment. It's a bright sunny morning and Apollo 11 is gleaming on the launch pad as technicians check the million-plus systems that all must work perfectly.

Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin and Michael Collins wave to the cameras as they depart for the pad, and ascend 365 feet to the top of the Saturn V rocket. The hatch is closed, technicians continue their checks of the million or so components that all must work perfectly, and the world awaits...

All systems are GO!

The time is 9:32 AM. The world holds its breath!

10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, 0! Smoke and fire billow from the mighty engines and slowly the rocket rises, then faster and faster. Humanity cheers on the launch of Apollo 11 on its historic mission to land Americans on the moon.

Apollo 11 is now in orbit. Two hours and 44 minutes later, the engines fire to take the spacecraft out of earth orbit and towards the moon, still a quarter of a million miles distant.

The adventure begins.

Don’t Skip the Moon!

The National Imperative to Secure Free World and Commercial Access to the Moon

A presentation at the 2025 International Space Development Conference.

The Coalition to Save Manned Space Exploration
June 19, 2025

There’s increasing excitement at the prospects of returning to the Moon and going to Mars. No longer perpetually a decade away, but much sooner. Elon Musk wants to send a fleet of Starships to Mars in November of next year, and crew at the next window in 2029. The ‘Human Landing System’ version of Starship is being designed to land crew on the Moon as well as massive amounts of cargo.

Immediately, though, we need a NASA Administrator to be selected and confirmed by the Senate, followed by rapid decision-making. The future direction of NASA is unknown, and we’ll have to wait for answers once a nominee is announced. Acting Administrator Janet Petro remains in charge, but in that role, she can only preside over existing programs.

The NASA Administrator must be prepared to bust the bureaucracy and accelerate crewed Lunar and Martian exploration plans, and must have a deep understanding of our space program.

The status of proposed budget cuts, cancelled projects and science, and plans for Artemis beyond Artemis-III remains unknown until a new administrator offers such clarity and works with Congress to reach a defined path for the next several years.

We urge NASA to not abandon the Moon after Artemis III, but to build a permanent NASA and commercial presence on the Moon, along with our international partners.

Partnering with many of our ISS partners on the Moon will accelerate the timeline and result in greater soft power, cultural diplomacy and most immediately of concern, help restrain China.

Starship has many steps to being ready for both Lunar and Martian missions. These include:

·     Repeated successful launches and landings.

·     Orbital flights.

·     Building and testing the entire refueling infrastructure.

·     Uncrewed Lunar landings and returns.

·     And when used beyond Artemis’ SLS/Orion-based crew launches, Starship will require human-ratings for both launch and reentry.

These are steep milestones for SpaceX, and we do not have much time to make it all work to prevent a Chinese declaration of sovereignty.

A “Plan B” may be necessary as well.

As an insurance policy against delays in SLS/Orion and Starship HLS, the next administrator could consider the use of dual Falcon and Falcon-Heavy launches using the Blue Moon lander—similar to China’s LM-10 mission profile. Note that the Crew Dragon heatshield is not designed for Lunar return velocities, and it is unknown if a heatshield could be designed and tested in time. Perhaps Orion could be launched on a Falcon Heavy or Blue Origin’s New Glenn.

As a national priority, Artemis must be accelerated. At least ready Artemis-II for launch late this year. And Artemis-III’s SLS and Orion should be readied for late next year or early 2027, in case Starship HLS or Blue Moon are ready by then.

We will return to the Moon and go to Mars. But we must not plant the flag and forget it for another half century. For the sake of the free world and commercial space, our absence would invite China to make their long-promised territorial claim.

That would mean that the incredible prospects for multi-billion dollar industries, helium-3 mining, scientific labs, far-side telescopes, and of course tourist centers would never happen. By the free world, that is.

The threat from China was best illustrated with the 2017 poetic threat by Ye Pei-Jian, the head of China’s military-led Lunar Exploration Program.

“The universe is the ocean: the moon is the Diaoyu Islands and Mars is Huangyan Island.”

Those are China’s names for the islands in the East and South China Seas that China seized and militarized in violation of the 400 years of freedom of the seas and the Law of the Sea Treaty, as well as preparing for wars of conquest. He gave a clear warning of their goal to similarly dominate outer space.

This is a declaration of intention, just as is China's ‘nine-dashed line,' which they use to illegally declare sovereignty in the South China Sea and over the territories of other countries.

We would be wise to deter China’s worst instincts by safely accelerating our lunar plans. Returning to the Moon to beat China must be the national imperative for our Artemis program.

We must construct and maintain, with commercial and international partners, a permanent lunar base. China’s military-led space program is designing theirs. We must do no less.  

When could China land crew on the Moon? Here are some clues to their timing.

·     Partial and full static fires of Long March-10. A partial static fire involving three engines has been performed with LM-10. The LM-10 is their “Falcon-Heavy” equivalent. Two would be used for a lunar mission. One launch with the crew capsule, and another with the lander to rendezvous with the crew capsule.

·     The first test launch of LM-10.

·     Photographs and public displays of stages or stacked LM-10 rockets, the lander and other hardware.

·     The first full-up test mission of LM-10. This may be only an orbital test or it could be an uncrewed flight to the Moon similar to Artemis I, where they could practice rendezvousing and docking with the lunar lander.

·     If successful, their second mission may copy Artemis-II using the two LM-10 systems on a crewed orbit of the Moon as well as performing an Apollo-10-like docking with their lander.

With successful test launches of LM-10, expect a rapid cadence of launches, with months, not a year or more between crewed lunar missions, and preparations to establish their permanent lunar base.

China has already flight-tested their new crew capsule. Those milestones are the first clues for their timeframe to land crew on the Moon.

The third launch of the LM-10 rockets may copy Artemis-3 with a crewed landing. Assuming successes, their cadence of launches will be much faster than for Artemis.

Note that China employs deception to keep us slumbering. China won’t go to the moon in 2030. Expect more like 2027. Or even sooner if their uncrewed and first crewed mission succeeds. China has an unlimited budget and an imperative to beat the US to the Moon.

Eventually, China’s LM-9, a reusable Starship knockoff, will be used for lunar and Martian missions.

Prioritizing a continuing U.S.-led free world presence on the Moon will forestall a Chinese territorial claim, and lessons learned on the Moon will make Martian missions and colonies safer and more successful.

(Photo credit: NASA)

"Trump Already Wins on Space Program" - Newsmax

President Donald J. Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris may take vastly different policy directions for NASA, commercial space, and defending the high frontier.

Will America lead the world to great accomplishments and opportunities in space, or surrender our lead to China? The stakes are critical for our future and that of the free world.

Americans have been astonished by the grand achievements by Elon Musk’s SpaceX and by NASA over the decades. Soon, NASA and SpaceX will take Americans back to the moon.

President Trump achieved a powerful record of successes. He resurrected the return to the moon that President Barack Obama had abolished. He established the United States Space Force. He recreated the National Space Council for the first time since 1993 and made it a serious policy-making entity.

READ THE FULL ARTICLE AT NEWSMAX

President Trump's Record of Success

Photo credit: NASA/Bill Ingalls

President Trump rescued NASA and our space program at a dark time. President Obama had cancelled our return to the Moon for without logical reasons. 

There's three likely theories. Obama's expressed ideological opposition to anything that looked like 'American exceptionalism.' The possibility that China threatened to block rare earth exports if we dared return to the Moon. Too much of a 'Bush program.' Evidence points to perhaps all three.

Had Obama supported the minor increase in NASA's budget that the Augustine Commission identified would be necessary for the return to the Moon, Congress would have passed it. That was a time of unlimited deficit spending and earmarks. 

But that was not the purpose of the Commission. In Washington, if you want to do something or do not want to do something, but create a 'commission' designed to give you the answer you wanted. The Commission was designed to conclude that returning to the Moon was essentially impossible, not report the actions and budget necessary to return to the Moon.. 

We literally could have a base on the Moon today, and children today could point to 'the light on the Moon' that showed humanity had forever escaped decades of Earth-orbit-bound research and into a bright future of unlimited space exploration.

Today, as a result of Obama's actions, China is racing to beat us to the Moon--and they intend to rule space as they advance towards a world ruled by China and their Communist system. They have an unlimited budget and no political opposition. The stakes are that high; China seeks dominance of space as demonstrated on Earth.

Ye Peijian, the head of China’s military-led Lunar Exploration Program declared China's intentions in 2017:

“The universe is like the ocean: the moon is like the Diaoyu Islands and Mars is like Huangyan Island.”

Those are China’s names for the islands in the East and South China Seas that China seized and militarized in violation of the 400 years of freedom of the seas and the Law of the Sea Treaty; an ominous warning of their goal to similarly dominate outer space.

Kamala Harris's known record of leadership on space is almost non-existent after four years as the Chair of the National Space Council. Aside from embarrassingly-incomprehensible remarks about space and a few prepared speeches, there's little reason to believe she has more interest in space than she did as Border Czar to secure the border. 

The Biden-Harris White House has thrown roadblocks in the way of developing SpaceX's Starship. We cannot expect that would improve under an even more radical Harris-Walz administration--and could result in actively preventing the development of the Starship that NASA has contracted to land astronauts on the Moon as part of Artemis III.

Harris and Walz never congratulated SpaceX for the recent capture of their Starship booster--something that was science fiction until this month. That sends a chilling message.

As a Vice President who would chair the Council (unless it is abolished), Gov. Tim Walz's public statements regarding space have only been to attack Elon Musk for what can only be described as childish and partisan reasons. 

Due to the ideological battle against free speech on the internet, Harris and Walz may carry out threats made by many Democratic Party leaders to actively punish or bankrupt Elon Musk for running X.com. As an example, former Labor Secretary Robert Reich called for arresting Elon Musk and cancelling all government contracts with SpaceX--which would ground our space program, doom the International Space Station, and end the Artemis program to return to the Moon. An administration more focused on 'getting Elon' than advancing space exploration could subject him to multiple investigations and legal charges.

The Coalition to Save Manned Space Exploration judges Kamala Harris and Tim Walz as not just incapable of advancing our space program, but because both are on the hard-left-wing of the Democratic Party, they may repeat Obama's dismemberment of the return to the Moon--which gave China a 20-year head start to claim the Moon. 

President Trump has a proven track record for rebuilding our space program and returning us to the pathways to the Moon and Mars. He will cease the Biden-Harris war on Elon Musk and we'll get to the Moon and Mars far sooner than NASA's current plans and delays would indicate.

As president, Trump will advance America to a bold future of exploration and commerce in space, and advance the day when children will marvel at the 'light on the Moon.'

Starship Success!

 

Photo credit NasaSpaceFlight.com

Congratulations to the SpaceX Starship team for a spectacular launch and landing! What was science fiction last week is science fact today. The precision required to ace the landing is incredible. 

This is a major step towards routine Starship operations that can launch huge cargos to orbit, send NASA probes to distant planets, and land American astronauts on the Moon. And one day sooner than most imagine, uncrewed and crewed landings on Mars.

This is the ship that will build bases on the Moon and Mars. This is the ship that will take tourists to orbit for the cost of a luxury cruise. And this is the ship that could provide point to point service to anywhere on Earth in an hour.

We look forward to the next text flights, and hopefully soon, the first test landing on the Moon as part of Artemis.

Godspeed for your next Starship flight.