NASA is making money from this 'space tourists' silliness. And I'm not just talking the huge fees they charge, either; a lot of their funding depends on making big public splashes of this type. When it comes down to it, the main reason Joe Taxpayer is willing to fund the space program is as a form of entertainment, or as a kind of national egoboo. Without public support, the civilian space program wouldn't exist at all.
This also explains much of NASA's rather erratic treatment of scientific projects; they mostly pick up the ones which will bring back pretty pictures suitable for making posters, or which might do something really really mindblowing for the public to coo over, often at the expense of missions with greater scientific merit.
What we really need are: a) some huge PR campaign to press the long term need for the program, and b) some kind of viable private or commercial space system. Unfortunately, companies have to justify themselves to their stockholders the same way NASA has to do to Clowngress, and as a result few are willing to put money into a long term, high risk project of this kind, no matter how big the potential payoff is. |
