In current weeks, copies of an appealing policy file have actually begun to spread out amongst area lobbyists on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC. The file bears the title “Athena,” and it professes to sum up the actions that personal astronaut Jared Isaacman would have taken, were his election to end up being NASA administrator verified.

The 62-page strategy is noteworthy both for the concepts to remake NASA that it upholds in addition to the way in which it has actually been dripped to the area neighborhood.

After getting a copy of this strategy from a market authorities, I talked with several sources over the weekend to comprehend what is occurring. Based upon this reporting there are plainly several layers to the story, which I wish to unload.

In the huge photo, this leakage seems part of a project by interim NASA Administrator Sean Duffy to either keep the prominent task or, at the minimum, bias the re-nomination of Isaacman to lead the area firm. In addition, it is likewise being spread out by tradition aerospace specialists who look for to secure their interests from the Trump administration’s objective of managing costs and leaning into industrial area.

The Athena strategy’s origin

The dripped file is 62 pages long and, according to sources, represents a pared-down variation of a more detailed “Athena” strategy created by Isaacman and his consultants early in 2025, after President Trump chose him to end up being NASA administrator.

The Athena strategy sets out a plan for Isaacman’s period at NASA, looking for to return the area firm to “accomplishing the near difficult,” concentrating on leading the world in human area expedition, sparking the area economy, and ending up being a force multiplier for science.

Isaacman’s election was drawn in late May, mainly for political factors. Trump then selected his Secretary of Transportation, Sean Duffy, to supervise NASA on an interim basis in early July. As a courtesy, in August, Isaacman’s group modified a much shorter variation of the strategy to 62 pages and provided a copy to Duffy and his chief of personnel, Pete Meachum.