LOL.. sure as hell they would... for a price. I kinda like the fact that NASA used good old American ingenuity to build their own, using parts and systems no longer in production and taking up space in a warehouse somewhere.
More bang for the buck. OUR tax bucks to be exact.
And hey what are you gonna do.... those whacky scientists and engineers like to improvise, invent, adapt and overcome.
I know, I know, were' not paying them for that kind of thinking by gum. They're supposed to be exploring space and throw our tax money around like its candy.
Oh, and only buy their software from Micro$oft.
Right.
I don't know there GE, in computer years, M$ is getting a little long in the tooth, and all they seem able to do is put a new dress on an aging dog and call it new again. If they're not careful, they may go the way of VMS.
Oh, wait, VMS was a rock solid OS (did clustering too). Bad example...
So you like the government serving the role of industry, verses the free enterprise. Next thing you'll tell me is you really dig that groovy idea by Stallman to just go ahead and charge taxes on everyone to provide it.
That software should have been contracted for, then kept private for US government use only. At some point, they may release the contractor to resell to other US businesses. Eventually, they might in rare circumstances allow other governments or foreign companies access. But generally that technology is the property of the US taxpaeyers, and should be safeguarded for it's worth, which obviously should not include giving the Chinese and Russians free copies.