Moon ventures could bring in $$$

[Barb]

SAN FRANCISCO - Even as NASA moves ahead with its $100 billion plan to return to the moon, it's also making room for the private sector to get in on the ground floor, according to one of the agency's most vocal advocates for commercial space ventures.

"I'm quite optimistic that privately funded science missions are going to be a wave of the future," said Pete Worden, director of NASA's Ames Research Center. "Probably some of the first ones will be astronomy-related."

Full article here

To quote Han Solo, "I've got a bad feeling about this." Don't get me wrong: I'm all for space exploration. I'm just not sure about the private sector part.
They're hoping to have human settlements by 2020.

 

[GrnMarvl14]

Personally, I love the idea of getting the private sector involved. It allows NASA to sit back and worry about the bigger problems. They can come up with a plan, set it out there, and let the people with the (seemingly) endless budget (and no one looking over their shoulders asking a million questions) do the work. Like with the X Prize. Also allows people who think outside the box (and maybe aren't exactly NASA material) to get their hands in it and make a difference.

Basically...whatever helps.

Keep in mind, most of the people who originally settled in America came over in corporate-sponsored boats. May not be pretty, but it gets the job done.

 

[Barb]

It wouldn't be too bad if it were mainly scientific endeavors. I really don't want to see a Starbucks (pardon the pun) on the Moon, though.