GOVERNMENT. NEXT QUESTION? NASA nominee asks why lunar return has taken so long, and why it costs so much.

Cruz opened the hearing by stating his priorities for NASA clearly and explicitly: He is most focused on ensuring the United States does not cede any of its preeminence to China in space, and this starts with low-Earth orbit and the Moon.

“Make no mistake, the Chinese Communist Party has been explicit in its desire to dominate space, putting a fully functional space station in low-Earth orbit and robotic rovers on the far side of the Moon,” he said. “We are not headed for the next space race; it is already here.”

Cruz wanted Isaacman to commit to not just flying human missions to the Moon, but also to a sustained presence on the surface or in cislunar space.

In response, Isaacman said he would see that NASA returns humans to the Moon as quickly as possible, beating China in the process. This includes flying Artemis II around the Moon in 2026, and then landing the Artemis III mission later this decade.

The disagreement came over what to do after this. Isaacman, echoing the Trump administration, said the agency should also press onward, sending humans to Mars as soon as possible. Cruz, however, wanted Isaacman to say NASA would establish a sustained presence at [sic] the Moon. The committee has written authorizing legislation to mandate this, Cruz reminded Isaacman.

“If that’s the law, then I am committed to it,” Isaacman said.

Maybe the biggest obstacle to establishing a sustained presence is Artemis. Flying on SLS at $4 billion per launch — just for the SLS rocket — is too expensive, and its launch cadence is too slow to do what it’s supposed to do.