Former NASA and commercial astronauts showed up to support businessman, astronaut, and philanthropist Jared Isaacman’s renomination hearing in the Senate Commerce Committee today, December 3rd, 2025. While the high-profile Artemis II crew wasn’t seated behind him as they were during his first nomination hearing in April there were still quite a few prominent astronauts showing their support. The Artemis II crew’s absence was likely due to the continuous and rigorous training they are undergoing ahead of launch early next year.
While only a handful of astronauts showed up to the hearing today, on November 22nd, 36 former astronauts signed a letter to committee chair Senator Ted Cruz and ranking member Maria Cantwell expressing their support for Jared Isaacman. The signatories stressed the importance of NASA’s goals of exploration and science and Isaacman’s unique qualifications to lead NASA. Some of the signatories included Former NASA Administrator under President Barack Obama, Charles Bolden, Scott Kelly (brother of Senator Mark Kelly), and record-setting astronaut Peggy Whitson. This letter’s significance was underscored when Senator Shelley Moore Capito highlighted her relationship with Peggy Whitson, stating that if Whitson approves of Isaacman, so does she.
“I spoke about one in particular I have great admiration for, and I saw her name on the list, Peggy Whitson. So that’s good enough for me, she is a remarkable astronaut woman and inspiration. So congratulations on securing that letter, I think that goes a long way.” – Senator Shelley Moore Capito [R-WV]
The signatures of Peggy Whitson and Michael López-Alegría, the former of whom was in attendance, were especially salient, considering they are active Axiom astronauts and have each flown to the International Space Station twice as commercial astronauts under the Axiom-contracted missions. Part of Isaacman’s job will be selecting future commercial ISS missions which Axiom has bid for and has been the sole chosen contractor thus far.
Human spaceflight enthusiasts may have also recognized other former NASA astronauts in attendance. Among them were Jack Fischer, Shane Kimbrough, Cady Coleman, and Ron Garan. Former NASA astronauts sitting near Isaacman during his hearing echoed the letter’s message that Isaacman has broad backing with influential members of the astronaut corps and former NASA leadership. Former NASA astronauts were not the only astronauts in attendance, two of Isaacman’s astronaut crewmembers were there in support. Hayley Arceneaux of Inspiration4, the charitable St. Jude mission and Sarah Gillis of Polaris Dawn sat among the NASA astronauts.
With Isaacman’s confirmation pending a vote in the committee on December 8th and a full Senate vote which is yet to be scheduled, it’s only a matter of time before NASA has another astronaut as administrator, but this time a commercial astronaut.