The Dragon is coming

One backstory that does't get a lot of publicity is that President Obama is outsourcing space travel (NASA is still aiming to go to Mars, but that is another story).

From DavidReneke's blog:

NASA has officially ordered its first commercial crew mission from private spaceflight company SpaceX. That means SpaceX has NASA’s authority to proceed with the first crewed launch of the company’s Crew Dragon capsule. This is their capsule which can carry up to seven people in lower Earth orbit. The mission is slated for sometime in late 2017, but the exact date has not yet been determined. 

SpaceX and Boeing hold contracts with NASA through the space agency’s Commercial Crew Program. The initiative tasks the two companies with creating and operating spacecraft that can ferry NASA astronauts to and from the International Space Station.

Currently, NASA is without a primary space vehicle and must rely on the Russian Soyuz rocket, which costs $80 million to get just one US astronaut into lower Earth orbit. Commercial Crew will allow American astronauts to get to the ISS on American-made vehicles once again, and for much lower costs.

more space news here.

spacex news HERE



Yes, often the government funds basic research, but the difference is that it is when someone finds a way to make money out of it that it actually gets into the public square.

For example, as EdDriscoll at instapundit points out: The internet may have started as a miliatary tool, but it only became "THE INTERNET" when it went public.

an alternative viewpoint: Industrial spying allowed ambitious entrepeneurs to improve and spread technology.