NASA Taps 7 Commercial Firms For Suborbital Flights

coondoggie writes "NASA this week picked seven commercial space companies to fly a manner of experiments on their suborbital aircraft. According to NASA the companies will split $10 million and get a two-year contract that will let NASA set up a pool of reusable suborbital systems that could help it test applications in everything from astrobiology to measuring the impact of a solar storm."

what a joke....

[Dolphinzilla]

10 millions dollars isn't enough to do the paperwork that is involved with working with NASA let alone doing anything useful. Especially since its is split between 7 contractors - clearly a move designed to make it look like the US Space program isn't dead.....

Re:what a joke....

[derGoldstein]

10 million isn't enough to do the paperwork *within* NASA. We're talking about separate small companies, who will have a drastically different approach. This is a good idea -- push (support) the commercial efforts for a relatively low cost and see which innovations they can use themselves down the line.

Huge budgets lead to bloat and bureaucracy. Small companies will be forced to look at every dollar spent, and be result-oriented.

Re:what a joke....

[derGoldstein]

Agreed.
NASA: National Aeronautics and Space Administration.
Aeronautics: Noun: The science or practice of travel through the air.

Aeronautics are a key part of the research. I don't see how this is a "step back" -- it's necessary, and right now it fits the budget.