Billionaire who performed the first private spacewalk is Trump's pick to lead NASA

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — A tech billionaire who bought a series of spaceflights from Elon Musk's SpaceX and conducted the first private spacewalk was nominated by President-elect Donald Trump on Wednesday to lead NASA.

Jared Isaacman, 41, CEO and founder of a credit card-processing company, has been a close collaborator with Musk ever since buying his first chartered flight with SpaceX. He took along contest winners on that 2021 trip and followed it in September with a flight where he briefly popped out the hatch to test SpaceX's new spacewalking suits.

If confirmed, Isaacman will replace Bill Nelson, 82, a former Democratic senator from Florida who was nominated by President Joe Biden. Nelson flew aboard space shuttle Columbia in 1986 – on the flight right before the Challenger disaster — while a congressman.

Isaacman said he was honored to be nominated and would be “grateful to serve.” “Having been fortunate to see our amazing planet from space, I am passionate about America leading the most incredible adventure in human history,” he said via X.