[FPSPACE] Study backs COTS

[DSFPortree at aol.com]

Jens & Ben:

FWIW, I'm all for commercial spaceflight, too. It has worked well for nearly 
half a century. I don't believe, however, that taxpayers should underwrite new 
companies via a special program - especially not to the tune of $500 million, 
and especially when companies already exist that can provide the services 
NASA needs.

NASA should spend its limited funding on projects that don't offer immediate 
commercial return - exploration and development of advanced technologies. 
These are likely to yield commercial return in the future, though that's not 
guaranteed, which is why government should assume the risk of doing them. 

David

David S. F. Portree
author & educator
dsfportree at aol.com
(928) 226-1427
Flagstaff Arizona USA

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"It's like when you're a kid, the first time they tell you that the world's 
turning and you just can't quite believe it because everything looks like it's 
standing still. I can feel it - the turn of the Earth. The ground beneath our 
feet is spinning at a thousand miles an hour, the entire planet is hurtling 
around the Sun at sixty-seven thousand miles an hour, and I can feel it. We're 
falling through space, you and me. Clinging to the skin of this tiny little 
world, and if we let go..." - The Ninth Doctor