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1. NASA’s new chief is Jared Isaacman, who took over the agency recently.
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At the “Ignition” event in Washington, D.C., he announced a plan to invest about 20 billion dollars in a moon base over the next seven year
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The goal is a long‑term moon base where astronauts can live and work, not just short visits
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NASA is pausing the Lunar Gateway space station in lunar orbit and will reuse its hardware to support the surface moon base instead
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Through the Artemis program, NASA still aims to land astronauts on the moon again by early 2028, with a long‑term goal of up to two crewed landings per year
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Isaacman is warning contractors that if they are late or over budget, NASA is ready to take “uncomfortable action,” including changing or cutting projects
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NASA wants to greatly increase robotic moon landers, aiming for almost monthly landings to deliver cargo and science gear for the future base
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A new Mars mission for 2028, called Space Reactor‑1 Freedom (SR‑1 Freedom), will test nuclear electric propulsion for deep‑space travel