Trump wants a West Point, but for astronauts
President Trump signed an executive order at Johnson Space Center creating a commission to build the first US Space Academy, a free four-year school under NASA that would train future engineers, mission controllers and space leaders in exchange for a service commitment. The idea, pushed by NASA chief Jared Isaacman as part of his 'Project Athena' modernization plan, is modeled loosely on the Merchant Marine Academy, not a military school, though critics worry it'll blur civilian NASA with the Space Force. No location or launch date yet, just vibes and a signature.
Why it matters
NASA's workforce is aging out just as commercial space companies boom, and Isaacman wants a dedicated pipeline of homegrown talent instead of poaching engineers from SpaceX or Blue Origin. But critics warn a military-style academy could quietly militarize an agency built to be explicitly civilian.