NASA needs an extra $3 Billion a year to go to the moon again.
Martin: There are a lot more privateers around now than there were in 1969. The cost of launching space craft is getting lower and the technology is getting relatively more accessible all the time. I think that NASA need to be looking at more partnerships with people like Space-X, maybe even hand over the whole show to them. Perhaps they could put the next moon landings out to tender. They could invite private companies to bid for the official contract to put man on the moon. Privateers can then bring some private funding alongside government money if they need more. NASA could provide technical support and make sure that the government money was being spent wisely. Maybe a radical thinker could do something really amazing with access to a bigger budget.
Could this lead to more economical space travel? Am I crazy? Is there a better way?
Thomas: If you could see me now you’d be looking at the face on an unconvinced man. Living in the UK I’m fully familiar with the concept of private funding vs public funding. My concerns would be that with private funding everything is done to a budget, its easy to over engineer things when your spending everyone’s money. If I was strapped in to a rocket headed for the moon I’d want it to have been built by engineers, not accountants! I’d also worry that the focus of the missions would change. NASA operates to do science, any commercial benefits are secondary. This gives them the chance to do some really cool missions and experiments that might never happen if it wasn’t public money.
As it happens though, I think NASA might be swinging the lead a bit asking for a further $3 Billion. I’d be willing to bet most of that money is going straight into the already stuffed pockets of the defense contractors cartel…
![[del.icio.us]](http://images.del.icio.us/static/img/delicious.small.gif){kind=small}