Transcript: NASA's Jared Isaacman on "Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan," April 5, 2026

Face The Nation Transcripts Transcript: NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman on "Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan," April 5, 2026 .chip { background-image: url('/fly/bundles/cbsnewscore/images/chip-bgd/chip-bgd-face-the-nation.jpg'); } April 5, 2026 / 12:12 PM EDT / CBS News Add CBS News on Google The following is the full transcript of an interview with NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman that aired on "Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan" on April 5, 2026, moderated this week by senior White House and political correspondent Ed O'Keefe.ED O'KEEFE: This morning, the Artemis II crew is closer to the moon than ever before. Here's a look at the exterior of the Orion capsule this morning. The four astronauts inside are prepping a six hour fly by around the far side of the moon tomorrow. For an update, we go now to NASA Administrator, Jared Isaacman, who is inside Houston's Mission Control. Administrator, thank you so much for being here with us. The four astronauts on board are roughly halfway through their mission now. What, in your view, is the most critical moment of the next 24 to 48 hours?JARED ISAACMAN, NASA ADMINISTRATOR: Well, I would say, and first good morning, Happy Easter, Ed. The primary objective right now for this phase of the mission is continuing to gather data from the ECLSS system, the life support system on the Orion spacecraft. This is the first time we've ever had humans on board the Orion spacecraft. We want to gather as much data as we possibly can for that. Of course, there's various science experiments, there's lunar observations, but learning as much as we can about Orion is critically important, because Artemis III is a year away. That's where we're going to test the same spacecraft with our lunar landers, followed up in 2028 by Artemis IV, where we're going to use this spacecraft transfer crew to the landers and put American astronauts back on the surface of the moon.ED O'KEEFE: You make a good point. This is a test mission, and it's...