In current weeks, copies of an intriguing coverage doc have began to unfold amongst house lobbyists on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC. The doc bears the title “Athena,” and it purports to summarize the actions that personal astronaut Jared Isaacman would have taken, had been his nomination to grow to be NASA administrator confirmed.
The 62-page plan is notable each for the concepts to remake NASA that it espouses in addition to the style during which it has been leaked to the house group.
After receiving a duplicate of this plan from an business official, I spoke with a number of sources over the weekend to grasp what is going on. Primarily based upon this reporting there are clearly a number of layers to the story, which I need to unpack.
Within the massive image, this leak seems to be a part of a marketing campaign by interim NASA Administrator Sean Duffy to both maintain onto the high-profile job or, on the very least, prejudice the re-nomination of Isaacman to guide the house company. Moreover, it is usually being unfold by legacy aerospace contractors who search to guard their pursuits from the Trump administration's aim of controlling spending and leaning into industrial house.
The Athena plan's origin
The leaked doc is 62 pages lengthy and, in keeping with sources, represents a pared-down model of a extra complete “Athena” plan devised by Isaacman and his advisors early in 2025, after President Trump nominated him to grow to be NASA administrator.
The Athena plan lays out a blueprint for Isaacman's tenure at NASA, in search of to return the house company to “attaining the close to inconceivable,” specializing in main the world in human house exploration, igniting the house economic system, and turning into a power multiplier for science.
Isaacman's nomination was pulled in late Might, largely for political causes. Trump then appointed his Secretary of Transportation, Sean Duffy, to supervise NASA on an interim foundation in early July. As a courtesy, in August, Isaacman's staff edited a shorter model of the plan all the way down to 62 pages and gave a duplicate to Duffy and his chief of workers, Pete Meachum.
