Latest / Elon Musk Podcast / Billionaire and SpaceX astronaut , Jared Isaacman NASA confirmation hearing opening regards

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Billionaire and SpaceX astronaut , Jared Isaacman NASA confirmation hearing opening regards · Elon Musk Podcast

• 0:00
  Thank you, Chairman Cruz, Ranking Member Cantwell,
• 0:03
  distinguished members of the committee.
• 0:05
  I'm honored and very grateful to be here before you today as
• 0:08
  President Donald Trump's nominee to lead the National Aeronautic
• 0:11
  and Space Administration. I've lived the American dream,
• 0:15
  and I owe this nation a great debt.
• 0:17
  I would happily serve President Trump in any capacity, but to
• 0:20
  work alongside the people that have expanded the boundaries of
• 0:22
  exploration and brought humanity closer to the stars would be the
• 0:26
  privilege of a lifetime. Before I begin, I would like to
• 0:29
  acknowledge my crew mates as you did earlier Senator, along with
• 0:33
  my wife Monica and my 2 wonderful daughters that are
• 0:36
  sitting behind me, Mila and Liv. I do recognize I am a newcomer
• 0:42
  so I thought I would share a bit about my story along with my
• 0:45
  understanding of the challenges and the opportunities that lie
• 0:48
  ahead. I am an entrepreneur and my
• 0:50
  journey began when I took a risk and left school at age 16 to
• 0:54
  build a company in my parents basement.
• 0:56
  Despite my unconventional start, I found success very early in
• 0:59
  life and LED my company into a multi billion dollar enterprise
• 1:03
  that employs thousands. I'm a pilot with an aeronautics
• 1:06
  degree. Over the last 20 years I've
• 1:08
  flown over 7000 hours in jets and ex military aircraft,
• 1:12
  setting world records and performing in air shows.
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  My passion for aviation also led me to start another company,
• 1:18
  this time a defense aerospace business.
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  As a company, we operated the world's largest private Air
• 1:23
  Force. Our job was to fly fighter jets
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  as adversaries, executing enemy tactics and training American
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  war fighters. We managed hundreds of millions
• 1:32
  in defense contracts and save taxpayers billions along the
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  way. I'm also an astronaut.
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  Alongside A talented team, I LED 2 record-breaking missions to
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  space. On my last mission, we tested a
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  new spacesuit while performing a spacewalk and orbited farther
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  away from Earth than any human is gone since the last time
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  Americans walked on the moon. Along the way, my 2 crewmates,
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  Sarah Gillis and Anna Menon, became the women who've
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  journeyed farthest from Earth ever.
• 2:00
  I'm an advocate for science. During these missions to space,
• 2:04
  my crew and I performed approximately 50 science and
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  research experiments. I've also publicly supported the
• 2:09
  Chandra X-ray Observatory and offered to fund a mission to
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  extend the life and capabilities of the Hubble Space Telescope.
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  I care about the people back at home and our collective future
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  here on Earth. Myspace career did not burden
• 2:21
  the taxpayers. They were privately funded and
• 2:24
  aimed at inspiring and helping people all over the world.
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  One example is the over $250 million we raised to support
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  Saint Jude Children's Research Hospital and their critical work
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  to ensure no child dies in the dawn of life.
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  Alongside these efforts, I personally donated hundreds of
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  millions of dollars to charitable endeavors.
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  I share all this because I am not a typical nominee for this
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  position. I've been relatively apolitical.
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  I am not a scientist. I never worked at NASA.
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  I do not think these are weaknesses.
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  In fact, I believe President Trump found them to be
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  strengths. And if confirmed, I will bring
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  all my experience to the greatest adventure in human
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  history, the quest to discover the secrets of the universe.
• 3:03
  On that note, NASA is the most accomplished and respected space
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  agency in the world. But for all NASA's historic
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  achievements, the agency is not without challenges.
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  Presidents have called for a return to the moon in a path to
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  Mars since 1989, and well over 100 billion has been spent
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  without the intended results. Most programs, new telescopes,
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  Rovers, X planes, entire spaceships are over budget and
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  behind schedule. And this is discouraging because
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  when people look up at the stars and wonder what is out there,
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  they want those answers today and not decades down the road.
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  And I know it is not lost on members of this committee that
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  we have geopolitical rivals moving at impressive speeds.
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  It's imperative for our national security, our pride, and all
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  that we stand to gain an exploration that we never come
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  in second place. If confirmed, and with his
• 3:50
  support and guidance of President Trump and members of
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  Congress, we will reinvigorate a mission First culture at NASA
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  with the following objectives. First, American astronauts will
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  lead the way in the ultimate high ground of space.
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  As the President stated, we will prioritize sending American
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  astronauts to Mars. And along the way, we will
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  inevitably have the capabilities to return to the Moon and
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  determine the scientific, economic, and national Security
• 4:13
  benefits for maintaining a presence on the lunar surface.
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  We will focus our technology development efforts on the world
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  S greatest engineering challenges, such as the
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  practical application of nuclear propulsion, so we can truly
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  unlock humankind S ability to explore among the stars. 2nd, we
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  will ignite A thriving space economy in low Earth orbit, but
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  working alongside international partners and industry, we can
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  unlock the true economic potential of space and
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  delivering deliver meaningful benefits the American people.
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  Potentially even charting a course for NASA to become a self
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  sustain A financially self-sustaining agency #3 NASA
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  will be a force multiplier for science.
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  We will leverage NASA's scientific talent and
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  capabilities to enable academic institutions and industry to
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  increase the rate of world changing discoveries.
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  We will launch more telescopes, more probes, more Rovers, and
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  endeavor to better understand our planet and the universe
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  beyond. If confirmed, I will work
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  alongside and recruit the most talented minds this nation has
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  to offer. And we will concentrate our
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  resources towards achieving the near impossible, the objectives
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  that no other agency, company or institution is capable of
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  accomplishing. We will do so knowing the risks
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  and the groundbreaking opportunities that lie ahead.
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  Because some risks, like exploring the world's beyond
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  ours, are worth taking. We will do this not just to
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  expand our knowledge or strengthen our national
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  security, but to improve all life here on Earth and inspire
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  the next generation to reach even further.
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  This is why America needs NASA, why the world needs NASA.
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  Because there is no more important investment than
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  inspiring our children to build a better and more exciting
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  future. And that, and the best way NASA
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  can do that is by delivering our mission and ushering in a new
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  golden age of science and discovery.
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  And we will not fail. Thank you.
• 6:00
  Thank you, Miss Trustee.