Surprisingly, this document makes no mention of a concrete plan to send humans to Mars. There are only two references to the red planet, both of which speak of sending people there as a distant goal. A source recently told Ars that once Trump learned that humans could not land on Mars during his second term, he was no longer interested in that initiative.
OM in the photo
Also missing from this document are many references to space science, with only one mention of “optimizing investments in space research and development to achieve my administration's near-term space objectives.”
The architect of the Trump administration's proposed deep cuts to space science (which Congress largely prevented) was Russ Vought, head of the Office of Management and Budget. It's probably not a good indicator of science missions that Isaacman will need to coordinate with Vought's office to achieve policy goals in the executive order.
All told, the policies Trump signed are generally forward-looking and intended to modernize NASA's exploration efforts. Isaacman will face many challenges, including landing humans on the moon by 2028 and working with industry to develop a successor to the International Space Station in time. Whether and how he meets these challenges will be an intriguing storyline in the coming months and years.
