NASA Chief Vows U.S. Moon Base as Centerpiece of New NASA Agenda
New NASA administrator Jared Isaacman launches ambitious plans for America’s return to the lunar surface.
The last time I wrote about billionaire entrepreneur and “Polaris Dawn” hero Jared Isaacman, he had been confirmed by the U.S. Senate to be the head of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA).
The news was welcomed by many Americans, and for good reason. He recently put construction of a permanent Moon base at the center of U.S. space policy as he begins to lead the NASA team into the next era of space exploration.
Recently appointed NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman on Friday told CNBC that the U.S. will return to the moon within President Donald Trump’s second term.
Isaacman, a close ally of SpaceX CEO Elon Musk, told CNBC’s “Closing Bell Overtime” that Trump’s recommitment to exploring the moon is key to unlocking the “orbital economy.”
“We want to have that opportunity to explore and realize the scientific, economic and national security potential on the moon,” he said.
Isaacman’s comments on Friday were some of his first public remarks since being confirmed to his position by the Senate last week, after a long saga throughout 2025.
When asked to expand upon those remarks on social media, Isaacman replied that he meant “Moon Base.”
We are going to build a Moon base
— NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman (@NASAAdmin) December 27, 2025
Those of you who love science fiction may recognize the NASA plans from Apple TV’s exceptional series “For All Mankind.” The Artemis program will launch this project, via initial sorties and short‑stay missions, using landers and small surface assets.
At this point, the construction of a “Space Camp” will begin.
NASA will build on the momentum of that human return mission in four years and plans to send crew to the Moon about once per year thereafter. To give astronauts a place to live and work on the Moon, the agency’s Artemis Base Camp concept includes a modern lunar cabin, a rover and even a mobile home. Early missions will include short surface stays, but as the base camp evolves, the goal is to allow crew to stay at the lunar surface for up to two months at a time.
“On each new trip, astronauts are going to have an increasing level of comfort with the capabilities to explore and study more of the Moon than ever before,” said Kathy Lueders, associate administrator for human spaceflight at NASA Headquarters in Washington.
“With more demand for access to the Moon, we are developing the technologies to achieve an unprecedented human and robotic presence 240,000 miles from home. Our experience on the Moon this decade will prepare us for an even greater adventure in the universe – human exploration of Mars.”
There are certainly questions about feasibility.
Users pointed out that a single orbital flight of SpaceX’s Starship has yet to be completed, cautioning that foundational milestones must be achieved first. Comparisons with Europe’s technological ambitions, such as standardising charging cables globally, were also used to illustrate differing priorities.
Despite these concerns, supporters of the recently-announced plan argue that establishing a moon base is essential for long-term US competitiveness in space and that feasibility is not a concern for the US admin. Isaacman and others stress that a clearly stated, ambitious goal is critical to avoid losing focus.
The proposed moon base could provide the US with massive strategic and economic advantages, compared to other big leagues in space exploration, like China and Russia. Beyond research, the presence on the lunar surface may support industrial projects and orbital infrastructure, including satellite maintenance and potential resource extraction.
Isaacman shared that these goals are part of Trump’s vision to position America as a leader in both scientific discovery and space commerce.
Hopefully, 2026 will get the U.S. back on course for an American moon landing.
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I have somewhere an issue of the Honolulu Advertiser which, newsrack folded, says “Man Lands on Moo,” after watching coverage of the moon landing in the lobby of the Reef Hotel on Waikiki beach. I doubt NASA will top that. It’s all bureaucracy now.
It has been confirmed that the editors of Honolulu Advertiser attended the “Learing Center” where they leared how to spel and rite real good.
That’s just the cow that didn’t quite jump over the moon. Probably due to insufficient methane thanks to the greenie weenies.
I seem to recall a moon base didn’t work out as expected for the cast of ‘Space 1999’.
Probably didn’t work out too well for the people on Earth either. Good luck without the moon.
Well sure, shorter days as Earth spun faster, far weaker ocean tides, catastrophic direct impact on some species adapted/dependent upon moon, seasons would be Cray Cray. Not great or even good but a good chunk of life on earth would survive and adapt. I always wondered about the food supply at that moon base as it spun off into the void, recycled water from sewage and lab grown algae or whatever would get old quick.
But they discovered aliens.
Better hurry up. Barbara Bain can’t live forever.
Buzz Aldrin said life on the moon was better than his life now.
Buzz was on the moon, and since returning usually has a buzz on.
With all of Blue Origin’s sub-orbital shots heavenward of human sandbags, I say contract them to push a little higher and send up construction workers. Give them training, and then send them to the moon (on Starship) to help build the base.
You simultaneously make space less ‘expert’ laden and get the popular imagination going. You want people dreaming, “Maybe my kid can work on the moon” and “Maybe my kid will go to Mars.”
A definite place to send the Somalis, Frey, and Walz where they will become the backbone of a thriving daycare/healthcare system on the moon.
Everything, everywhere, all at once.
The Somali Fraud Expose is on another thread.
Paula, you are focusing on single issues. Trump is doing tariffs, Venezuela, China, Iran, Palestine, Illegal immigration, government fraud, arrests and prosecution of bad actors from the previous immigration, rolling back EPA regulations, starting up nuclear power plants, peace in the Ukraine, buying Greenland, fighting the cartels, election voting role clean-ups, health insurance reforms, overhauling federal tax laws, reducing H1B1 visa rules, immigration visas, lowering the price of beef, and is in the Supreme Court about twice a month. Oh, and reducing crime in our major cities.
Now a moon base?
I think that is a fair definition of
“Everything, everywhere, all at once.”
We have a rather large country. We can do more than one thing at a time.
I want to m I what government make-work departments and projects are being shut due. To pay for this one? WE CAN’T AFFORD THIS.
Minnesota Somali fraud money coulda paid for it. But Tim Walz said providing day care for 6 or 7 Somali children was worth it.
“And potential resource extraction…”
Yeah…I hope that’s given a lot of study, gravity wise, before implementation.
Also, Earth has an atmosphere to protect us from meteors that the moon doesn’t have. They don’t have to be big rocks to raise havoc with anybody or the equipment up there, unprotected.
Also cosmic rays.
There are generally technical solutions to those issues. Let’s go confront them and see what we can do. Lots of advances in history came from confronting challenges on the frontier.
The best technical solution is to essentially bury the base or stick it in a cave if one can be found.
In most places, the day/night cycle and a few million years of rocks falling from the sky have left the surface nice and powdered. It is no great technical challenge to use the equivalent of a snowblower to toss a few feet of dust on top of a structure such as an inflated tube or one of the Starship stages lying on the side. That’s the *easy* part of a long-term base. Reliable transportation to/from the base, life support, power generation, food and water recycling, and a million other details, any of which can kill an astronaut dead in short order, will need to be addressed. NASA has been waffling about the details for a half-century now. Let’s start seeing some bent metal and scoop shovels working the lunar landscape instead of paper theories.
but but the natives were there first and we owe them
more wht males looking to colonize
must be in their blood to want to advance….er I mean enslave
Maybe CA should build a high speed rail from SF to the moon powered by green energy. This would tick a lot of progressive boxes and be guaranteed to never be completed.
Put Governor Moonbeam in charge of the project.
If Trump wants to annex the moon as US territory, we must put a permanently staffed base there before anyone else does.
I think there are treaties that prevent annexation of the moon as there are for Antarctica. Do I believe Russia or China would adhere to said treaties. No. They wouldn’t. We should withdraw from them.
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