http://www.aviationweek.com/aw/generic/story_generic.jsp?channel=awst&id…
“The government cannot fund everything that we need to do, but we can inspire and open the door for commercial entrepreneurial entities to become involved, to become partners with NASA in this needed development that will enable things to come about. So no, you can’t make enough money for NASA to do the things that I think you want to do. But together . . . I think we will go back to the Moon and eventually on to Mars.”
What do you think of NASA’s new strategy to become a “middle man” for the commercial space industry?
If they do it right, I think it could be really great. The public is used to NASA setting the direction for Space Exploration and they have the infrastruture required to get the word out. If they were to morph into an agency more like the National Endowment for the Arts, they could provide seed money to non-profits (in the case of space development I think they would want to include for-profit companies) to get new projects off the ground and to sustain the war horses of the industry.
That having been said, I don’t think that’s what will happen. To really succeed in that role, NASA would need to be the sort of organization that explored the entire space industry to see where the new and innovative ideas were coming from and then lend thier voice and funds to that cause. NASA’s culture to date has not proven to be a place where that sort of discovery takes place. Teaching a large organization like NASA how to opperate in a totally different way is no small feat, and I’m not sure they are up to the challenge.
Agree with you 100%. NASA’s (oversimplified) problem stems from the fact that their background and personnel very closely resemble the military. Too many managers and too few real leaders. And I mean both political and technical leaders.
Although I did see a new marketing video (on NASA TV after the Endeavour landing last week) that lays out NASA’s future plans for “reshaping itself” and “aligning itself with the goals of human exploration” and “establishing and maintaining partnerships” [all paraphrased of course] and many MANY other buzz word phrases that were saying they want to change to make things happen. Let’s just say i’m not going to hold my breath