Go Somewhere!

3. let private companies reign between earth and the moon


NASA's biggest investments, the space station and the shuttle, are like a dysfunctional couple: They keep each other mired in unproductive behavior. The shuttle has become little more than a vehicle for getting to and from the space station, and the station has become somewhere for the shuttle to go. Instead of setting its sights on the solar system and beyond, NASA is spinning around Earth at a distance of only 220 miles on average.


It's time for the agency to begin to relinquish its grip on some portions of the space program. "NASA is an exploration agency, not a construction company or a landlord," says Tumlinson. In his view, NASA should behave more like Lewis and Clark, and less like the shopkeepers who followed them. He says NASA should vacate the near frontier-the area from Earth to the moon that has already been physically explored by humans-and move on to the far frontier. "I want to see astronauts rappelling off the cliffs of Mars," he says, "with the goal that they will be followed by settlers. That handoff is where we've fallen apart."


The federal government has a tradition of developing new technologies and then passing them on to industry. The Internet, for example, got its start that way. But because the shuttle and space station are national assets and symbols, privatization should not be taken lightly. It should be gradual, and it should not be a giveaway: Businesses should shoulder the majority of the financial burden.


NASA could start by purchasing more goods and services from industry suppliers, as the Pentagon does. The agency could also hand over more management tasks. For example, NASA could contract with a commercial firm to operate the unmanned ships that haul supplies to the space station. The agency could also consider turning over the oldest of the nation's four space shuttles, Columbia, to a quasi-governmental agency, something like the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey.


NASA should also work harder to encourage private citizens to experience space. Even exploration can be privatized to a certain degree, as South African entrepreneur Mark Shuttleworth is attempting to demonstrate with his flight this month to the international space station (see "Self-Made Scientist").