Perceived Mars favortism rankles space entrepreneurs

It is apparent that there are forces within NASA solely fixated on Mars. And there's a huge fear in the Mars community, Mendell said, that once on the Moon...game over, with humankind never progressing to Mars and beyond.

"Let's at least get over it and try to get off the planet," Mendell said. "The Moon has a place in making sure we know how to do the management processes, the technical processes, the design processes, the operational processes...in order to conduct a Mars mission."

For the agency's back to the Moon kickoff project — the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter — NASA gave that job to one of its own, the Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland.

There are companies ready and willing to offer up a commercially-supplied alternative to a government funded, government operated, government owned lunar orbiter, Gump suggested. "So the first step has not been terribly auspicious in terms of involvement of the private sector," he added.

The LRO project is a disappointment -- I noted back in February that it would have the perfect opening for the sort of opportunities whose lack Gump is now lamenting.

Gump said that NASA has learned little over the years in dealing with the private sector and alternative space companies during the space shuttle and space station programs. He likened NASA to Agent Orange — the herbicide employed by the U.S. military during the Viet Nam War to destroy plants by interfering with their normal metabolism.

"Any seed of commercial activity that lands on it...immediately dies," Gump pointed out.

Ouch.

Posted by T.L. James on July 30, 2004 11:45 AM