NASA Chief Jared Isaacman Skydives Into MAX POWER Air Show
NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman skydived above 10,000 spectators at the agency's MAX POWER air show at Kennedy Space Center on November 7, then flew two fighter jets. NASA also announced a week-long CAPEWEEK event for 2028.
NASA chief Jared Isaacman skydived into the agency's MAX POWER air show at Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Saturday, November 7, landing in front of about 10,000 onlookers.
The show was the first public air show of its kind for NASA. It mixed aeronautics and spaceflight, with astronauts, fighter jet displays and new technology on show over the weekend.
Jump, then fighter jets
Isaacman jumped alongside members of Skydive Chicago. Montana Sen. Tim Sheehy and former U.S. Air Force Thunderbird pilot Shawn Gustoson also took part.
He landed just behind the main stage and went straight up to greet the crowd. Earlier that day he had flown over the show in two fighter jets: an F-5 and then a MiG-29. He flew fighter jets over the event again on Sunday.
"Going into this job, I I knew we had to do something like this," Isaacman said after landing. He said NASA wanted to open Kennedy Space Center on the nation's 250th birthday, in the year it returned astronauts to the lunar environment, "and put on a little bit of a show."
Isaacman's flying record
Isaacman is also an entrepreneur, a commercial astronaut and a pilot. His fighter jet callsign is "Rook", and he has logged more than 8,000 flight hours.
In 2009 he set the world record for the fastest trip around the world in a light jet: 61 hours, 51 minutes and 15 seconds. He financed and flew on two private orbital missions on a SpaceX Dragon, Inspiration4 and Polaris Dawn. The latter included the first private spacewalk.
CAPEWEEK planned for 2028
NASA announced earlier in the weekend that a week-long event called CAPEWEEK will return to Kennedy Space Center in 2028. The agency promises a bigger showcase of air and space innovation.
President Donald Trump attended the ceremony. Isaacman and NASA astronauts presented him with a gold plaque, which will be installed at the Shuttle Landing Facility runway at Kennedy in time for CAPEWEEK.
"What you are seeing today again, imagine March 2028," Isaacman said. "It's going to be 10x bigger." He said the show would include aerospace hardware, rovers and landers, and commercial airliners.
"I would bet on this, the next new Grand Airliner will be announced here," he added.
