Re: Save the American Space Program?!
The problem is NASA failed to redefine itself after the fall of the USSR with a clear and focused goal. NASA was created as part of the Public Relations side of the Military Industrial Complex of the Cold War. It was an outstanding success. It's first goal was to go to the moon which it exceded all expectations by getting there so early. Then the goal was a reusable space shuttle. The shuttle we got wasn't the best but was the best we could build with the availible tech of the day. In early '90s NASA suffered from a lack of direction. I agree we need a space program but maybe we need to take a step back and come up with a more defined plan. So I don,t have a problem with letting the Russians handle traffic to the ISS(I've never been a big fan of this money pit anyway) we should focus on Mars. As for private investment thats only going to work if you can show investers how they can get a return on thier money in the short term.