22 replies to this topic

[ExplorerAtHeart]

U.S. astronauts would circle the moon within five years under a plan proposed to NASA by Lockheed Martin

http://www.parabolic...o-moon-by-2016/

[goofydoohdooh]

private sector... that's the future.

[Wesfky]

private sector... that's the future.

Privatise NASA.

[goofydoohdooh]

I have never thought of that, and i have to say it is brilliant.

[Wesfky]

I have never thought of that, and i have to say it is brilliant.

Deregulate space.

[truthiness]

Deregulate space.

The mighty Jabba approves of this message.

[mic of orion]

U.S. astronauts would circle the moon within five years under a plan proposed to NASA by Lockheed Martin

http://www.parabolic...o-moon-by-2016/

desperation seeps in, they are desperate for a lucrative state contracts NASA gets, LM is desperate to maintain its grip on NASA and it'll do anything to do keep the status quo, and just to make sure they have half of Federal Congress and US Senate on their payroll.

Why didn't they come with this idea 10 years ago, only now when private firms are doing everything 20 times cheaper, Big Business against - dedicated enthusiastic willing private venture which in many cases finances its own research and development at a loss. Many in private space sector actually work for peanuts literally, free food,coke and good time and progress.

Big Business cares little for space, and more how they can rob hard working American tax payers!.

Nepotism and Greed is their by-word,

[wjfox]

Privatise NASA.

Whilst I agree that space needs to be more commercialised, to fully privatise NASA would be a bad idea. You'd lose projects like the James Webb telescope, which wouldn't be profitable. The same would happen with many other projects based on science/nature or a deep understanding of the cosmos. There needs to be a balance between the private sector and public space programs.

[ExplorerAtHeart]

The NewSpace corps are the imaginative and innovative group. That happens with new industry, the existing companies in a industry get rolled over in the long term by new and spirited corps when a replacement industry comes into being. They can't innovate their way in because of their culture.

IBM is a noteable exception who seems to make it to new industries when they come along.

[Wesfky]

Whilst I agree that space needs to be more commercialised, to fully privatise NASA would be a bad idea. You'd lose projects like the James Webb telescope, which wouldn't be profitable. The same would happen with many other projects based on science/nature or a deep understanding of the cosmos. There needs to be a balance between the private sector and public space programs.

I fully agree, I was just pointing out how bad goofydoohdooh's image of the future is.

For some reason he thought privatisation was a brilliant idea but not the deregulation idea. I mean seriously not being able to have nuclear weapons in space is holding the private sector back.

[ExplorerAtHeart]

Nuclear power you mean

[goofydoohdooh]

Whilst I agree that space needs to be more commercialised, to fully privatise NASA would be a bad idea. You'd lose projects like the James Webb telescope, which wouldn't be profitable. The same would happen with many other projects based on science/nature or a deep understanding of the cosmos. There needs to be a balance between the private sector and public space programs.

I fully agree, I was just pointing out how bad goofydoohdooh's image of the future is.

For some reason he thought privatisation was a brilliant idea but not the deregulation idea. I mean seriously not being able to have nuclear weapons in space is holding the private sector back.

I never said deregulation was a bad idea... i just never thought of the matter. I think its a great idea.

[Logically Irrational]

I'm agreeing with wjfox on this one. There are some things that private companies just do better than NASA, and vice versa. I think that private space flight just needs to reach the proper escape velocity (no pun intended) before it really gets going. Once it gets going and becomes significantly profitable, and gets a good amount of experience such as NASA has, then I think space flight will move over to private companies. When that happens, I could see non-profit oriented science ventures being done by them. At least until then, organizations like NASA, ESA, Roscosmos, and JAXA will need to be around.

[Zachemc2]

private sector... that's the future.

Privatise NASA.

This will be a big issue in the 2024 elections, especially with the upcoming $1.2 trillion Mars mission.

[ExplorerAtHeart]

You guys still fail to realize that NASA will fund the pure science missions and contract them out to the private space transport systems. NASA will be able to do alot more with the same budget.

[Caiman]

Privatisation is not always the answer. Some industries just aren't cut out for it, especially not in their infancy. Sure you could say NASA is a fifty year old institution now but space travel itself is still a newborn baby on the potential scale of space exploration and habitation that lies in front of us...

[ExplorerAtHeart]

It is the answer in space innovation. A government bureaucracy wouldn't even try what space x wants to do now, or it would cancel it when it was almost completed.

[Flatfingers]

I'd like to see more use of X prizes. Set difficult goals, allow creative, profit-driven organizations to find ways to achieve those goals, and motivate them with good, old-fashioned money.

NASA, with its science focus, is less sclerotic than other bureaucracies. But it's still a bureaucracy, spending other people's money, which makes it less creative and less efficient in finding new ways to solve problems than a business like, say, Lockheed Martin. (Incidentally, I know people both at Lockheed and in government; anyone who thinks that either of these enterprises is inherently evil has no idea what they're talking about.)

Caiman's comment that NASA is around 50 years old reminded me of the most amazing thing: in the brief 25-year span from 1944 to 1969, we went from flying propeller-driven aircraft to walking on the Moon. It wasn't just NASA that did this, nor was it just private industry (which couldn't have afforded it); it was a joint effort that allowed so much progress so quickly.

I'd say we're still early enough in human spaceflight that this is still the most effective model. But I wouldn't mind seeing the day come when it's possible for the spaceflight industry to be primarily a function of private enterprise.

Somebody hurry up and invent antigravity!

[Logically Irrational]

I'm just looking forward to a time when space research isn't confined to giant organizations. How cool would it be if you were some random scientist studying space independently, and you could just send your own complex probe up to an asteroid. Of course, by then, it would probably be just as easy to fly up yourself.

Damn, the future is cool.

[eacao]

... seriously not being able to have nuclear weapons in space is holding the private sector back.

Detonating a fusion bomb in deep space, I imagine would also be a perfect experiment to learn a lot more about supernovas.