NASA Has a New Chief. Here’s What He Could Do in His First 20 Days

Jared Isaacman—a pilot, two-time commercial astronaut, and billionaire tech entrepreneur—is officially the head of NASA. He’s taking charge of an agency that’s reeling from a year of unprecedented uncertainty, and as he attempts to right the ship, he hopes to introduce some sweeping changes as well.

In November, a 62-page manifesto outlining Isaacman’s plans for NASA was leaked to the press. Isaacman fielded many difficult questions about the document, titled “Project Athena,†during his second confirmation hearing earlier this month. He said he stood by everything in it but emphasized that its directives are subject to change. A digital copy is now circulating online, and it clearly lays out Isaacman’s nascent goals for his first 20 days in office.

Gizmodo has not independently verified the copy, but Keith Cowing—a former NASA employee, agency insider, and editor of NASA Watch—vouched for its authenticity.

Much has happened since Isaacman first drafted Project Athena following his initial nomination in January, and some of the action items he included are subject to change. What’s more, anything on Isaacman’s wishlist will require Congressional approval. Accordingly, the purported plan is more a list of Isaacman’s aspirations than a concrete roadmap.

With that said, it’s unlikely that Isaacman will color far outside of the lines that Project Athena draws for his administration. The document therefore offers some insight into what he hopes to accomplish at NASA, and it appears that he’s going to hit the ground running.

Day 3: Reevaluating NASA’s workforce and workflow

It’s no secret that NASA faces some major efficiency challenges. Space exploration is hard and expensive, so it’s not altogether surprising that several key missions are years behind schedule and way over budget. With the pressure to beat China back to the Moon and to Mars mounting, Isaacman plans to tackle these issues head-on.

According to Project Athena, he’ll take a good, hard look at the agency’s workforce and workflow around day 3 of his administration. Isaacman aims to “[identify] those that should be recognized and those that need improvement or potentially separation from the agency.â€

Before anyone panics—that doesn’t necessarily mean there will be another round of job cuts at NASA. The agency’s workforce is already down about 20% as a result of layoffs and mass buyouts earlier this year. But if Isaacman sticks to this plan, it does sound like there will be some restructuring as he works toward the business-like efficiency he is striving for.

Project Athena provides a high-level overview of what this process might look like, starting with requests for “consolidation proposals†from NASA’s executive leadership. It also describes flattening the organizational structure, eliminating deputy and assistant roles, ending “large recurring meetings and other productivity drags,†and suspending boards and committees that delay decision-making.

Day 9: Setting course toward Mars

Once NASA is presumably running like a well-oiled machine, Isaacman hopes to get Project Olympus off the ground. The Athena document describes this as a “dedicated program, working alongside industry and international partners, to launch an uncrewed mission to Mars during the 2026 launch window.â€

The objective of Project Olympus is to land the first infrastructure on Mars, laying the technological groundwork for future crewed missions. During his second confirmation hearing, Isaacman acknowledged that returning American astronauts to the Moon is more urgent than launching a Mars mission but remained strong in his conviction that NASA can work toward both simultaneously.

To help NASA reach the Red Planet, Isaacman plans to expand the agency’s nuclear electric propulsion program. This type of propulsion draws energy from atomic fission reactions instead of traditional combustion reactions, essentially producing unlimited energy to power deep-space flights.

Day 21: Consolidating aeronautics

With NASA’s spaceflight program soaking up most of the attention, many are quick to forget what the first “A†in the agency’s name stands for: Aeronautics. This arm of NASA conducts research and development for new aviation technologies across several different facilities, including Ames, Armstrong, Glenn, and Langley.

Under Isaacman’s leadership, that could change, according to Project Athena. The document includes a directive to consolidate aeronautics-related activities under a single mission directorate at a primary operating facility on day 21 of his administration. It goes on to state that aviation assets will be primarily based at Armstrong Flight Research Center.

There may also be some fat-trimming, as the document states that Isaacman will “review all programs for relevancy and focus resources on cutting-edge technology.â€

Again, it remains to be seen whether Isaacman will actually accomplish all of this within the first 20 days, or at all, but it’s clear he’s not going to take a business-as-usual approach. At a time when the U.S. has never had higher expectations for NASA, he’ll certainly face enormous pressure to get the agency back on track—and fast.